¹¹ “Not everyone can accept this statement,” Jesus said. “Only those whom God helps.

¹⁷ Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule for all the churches.

³⁵ I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.

⁷ But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.

⁸ So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am. ⁹ But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust.

² But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

¹¹ He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets^[a] of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.