Online Education Courses in Christian Counseling: The Single Vocation
Today’s modern world has a check list for success. Do you have a good job? Do you have a nice car? With such secularistic views, people feel they are in a race to fill in every blank. One such measuring stick of success is marriage. If one is not married after twenty five, questions arise concerning one’s self worth. This is not a Christian paradigm, nor is it the spirituality Christ expects from lay persons.
For so long, there were two roads a person could take; ministry or marriage. However, recently a third life style has emerged that demands equal respect. In fact, this third life style of the single life has in some cases been called a vocation; A vocation that bears the crosses of loneliness and exemplifies Christian characteristics of virtue. For some this vocation is temporary and it teaches and prepares one for marriage, for others it is a permanent role that demands if not more than marriage or ministry. Such single lay people are able to share their talents, not just within the confines of a family or the church, but are better equipped to teach Christ in the marketplace and are less confined to give to his or her fellow man.
Yet despite this new calling for some, the cross of loneliness can be unbearable for some. As Christian Spiritual counselors, it is one’s duty to help guide the person who is single. Within this guidance, the counselor should look for possible priestly or ministry vocation, but also investigate the urgency for a partner. The person should be given a clear view on the ideals of marriage and what it entails. Secular ideals should be dismissed and replaced with clear cut Christian morals in regards to marriage. The person should also be guided in the values in Christian virtue and how a single person can enhance their spirituality and be open to God’s grace when the possibility of a partner comes his or her way.
In the meantime, the paradigm of the Christian single should mimic that of Jesus Christ. Christ never married, and while Christianity’s high priest, never officially held a religious position. Yet Christ, as a human, experienced all the emotions of a single person-albeit not possessing a fallen nature. Christ’s needs as a single person were tempted in the desert by Satan, and during each trial, he triumphantly rejected the expectations of the world and acknowledged true virtue and good living.
So it is important to emphasize to singles that there is a plan for them. If that plan involves marriage, so be it, but even if it does not, their life destiny still has an intrinsic value which can greatly contribute to the Mystical Body of Christ. In the meantime, the counseling should emphasize in overcoming personal crosses, eliminating false notions of happiness, and emulating a plan in the model of Christ. If these things are emphasized, a person can truly walk away from a session with dignity and value in their single life. If you would like to learn more, consider taking Christian Counseling Courses.
Also please review our online education courses in Christian Counseling.
Also please review our online education courses in Christian Counseling.
By Mark Moran, MA