In life it is common to hear multiple things about how to be in a relationship that honors God. It's often the center of topic for sermons, and it's the subject of countless books all over the world. However, something that is not always talked about in such great detail is waiting for the right relationship and taking advantage of your time as a single person. You probably often hear "be patient" and "you'll find the one for you in God's timing," but those things are much easier to say than they are to apply to your life. Patience is a hard virtue to acquire for most of us and it takes more than just hearing "be patient" to get it.

I'll start off by saying something that I heard at my church the other night. God came to Adam and gave him Eve as he was sleeping. God didn't say "I made a woman for you, go find her" or "Go through all these women relentlessly until you find the one." He came to Adam as he was, just living out His will and serving Him, and gave him a partner for life. We should think about this when we find ourselves looking for a relationship. Our priority is God and doing what God wants us to do with our lives. When we put all of our focus on finding a relationship and push our focus on God aside, He is not going to send "the one" our way. A relationship isn't two incomplete people finding completeness in each other, it's two people complete in Jesus who come together, love each other and live out their lives honoring God together. Stop wasting all your time looking for the one meant for you, and start focusing your time becoming the one God wants you to be. That's the point when God is going to place that special person in your life.

Speaking of completeness, you are not incomplete without a significant other. Women: you have just as much worth and value when you are single as you do when you are in a relationship. Men: you can still be the man that God wants you to be without a girlfriend. Your value does not depend on your relationship status with people, it depends on your relationship status with God. Single does not mean lonely. No one who truly knows God is ever lonely, whether they are single or married. We find our fulfillment in God, not a relationship.

Keep your standards high. Make sure you are looking at what matters in a significant other because when they are 85 and old and fat and wrinkled, you're gonna care about what's on the inside. With that said, look at others from the inside out. Do they love Jesus with all their heart and are they complete in Jesus? After all, relationships are made to honor God so ensure that their intentions are good and the same as yours. Are they intelligent, easy to talk to, fun, hilarious, can you have deep conversations with them, etc.? Look at inner beauty before anything else and then look at physical attraction. Get your priorities straight when it comes to the qualities you want in a significant other and don't settle for less.

There are things you can do while you're single that you wouldn't be able to do with a relationship. These are things specific to each person and the only one who knows them is God, which is why He sometimes keeps you from being in a relationship. Like we need to in so many other situations, trust that God knows what He is doing and trust that it will be what's best for you. You'll understand it later on, but for now all we can do is use our singleness to completely focus on God and living out of lives for Him. The rest will fall into place when the time is right. With those things said, pray for patience and contentment. Let this be a reminder that you don't have to have a significant other to be the greatest person you can be. Relationships are beautiful, but don't let the beauty of relationships undermine the different, but equal, beauty of honoring God and His will on your own.