Free Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff

I guess ‘love your neighbor’ doesn’t include puppeteers? Fine, be that way.”
TELLING OTHER PEOPLE MAYBE GOD GAVE THEM THE GIFT OF SINGLENESS
    He didn’t give it to me. I’m married, thank God, which I can totally say in this context because I am literally thanking God for something he gave me, which is a wife. It’s weird that he didn’t give you one though. Maybe he does want you to be lonely, Imean single. Like Paul. Marriage isn’t for everyone. Not everyone gets that gift. Some people, yourself for instance, get cats instead.
    Or dogs. God seems like he’s more of a dog kind of guy. And that’s not so bad. Dogs are nice, you’ll have a lot of time by yourself for puzzles, and your tea will last twice as long. Think about that. Whenever my wife and I have tea we waste two teabags. Think of the savings in tea you’ll be enjoying, and you’ll never have to pick a side of the bed to sleep on. You have both sides to choose from and no one ever elbows you.
    I bet you didn’t even consider that. Good thing I’m so insightful, which is another gift God gave me. He gave me more of a “spiritual gift basket” than just an individual gift. I got marriage and happiness and kids and joy and love, but you got the gift of singleness. Like Paul. That’s great. Seriously, I’ll pray you’ll be willing to embrace it and not shriek every morning when you awake and that gift is still sitting on your doorstep. That’s what I would do. I have nightmares about being alone sometimes. But that’s your gift.
ABSTINENCE
    I’m a huge fan of abstinence. Especially now that I’m married and don’t have to practice it. But I almost didn’t write about it because I think that despite how much we like the idea of abstinence, we’ve done a really poor job explaining its benefits. Here’s what usually happens for thirteen-year-old Christian boys:
    Their parents or their youth leader says, “Look, you should stay pure and not have sex so that you can keep your marriage holy.” That’s their first option.
    Then the world says to them, “Look at me! Sex is wild and fun and neon and loud and Whoa! Spring Break! Party!”
    As a thirteen-year-old, it was unfortunately pretty easy to decide which idea sounded more interesting.
    What if instead, we told people that a great reason to wait until marriage to have sex is that it makes your sex life so much better after you’re married? When you don’t bring baggage into the sexual aspect of your marriage relationship, things get wild a lot faster. You get to have crazy, awesome, Prince-type sex. There are no memories of other people, no hang-ups to work through. It’s just you and your wife getting ridiculous and enjoying the hot, sexy good time that holiness makes possible.
    This is truly what it sounds like…when doves cry.
FALLING IN LOVE ON A MISSION TRIP
    My little brother wrote one of my favorite songs in the world while he was on a mission trip to Africa. It wasn’t about the people. It wasn’t about the culture. It was about something much bigger and more universally understood than that. It was about falling in love on a mission trip.
    This happens a lot. We go away on a mission trip. We fall in love. We break up when we get back. Why does it happen? Why do we do this? I have a few ideas:
Your relationship back home doesn’t stand a chance.
    When you go on a mission trip and leave your boyfriend at home, you’ll start to see Mark, that awkward but kind of cute guy on the trip, in a whole new light. It’s a light called, “Look at Mark feed hungry children in Africa while my boyfriend plays Xbox back in Ohio.” The person back home is instantly eclipsed. I don’t care how great they are—they’re not on the mission trip helping people. Caring about people, being a servant of the Lord in a tangible, visible way. Doing things that aren’t selfish or self-centered. “And come to think of it, my boyfriend and I don’t even like the same music. And I love that