Sunday, March 17, 2013

Anna Karenina: Part V, Chapter 24

After his wife left him, Aleksey Aleksandrovich Karenin went through a deep emotional valley. He felt scorned and ostracized by society. Now that he has found faith, his perspective has changed.
Aleksey Aleksandrovich did not merely fail to observe his hopeless position in the official world, he was not merely free from anxiety, he was positively more satisfied than ever with his own activity.
"He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: but he that is married careth for the things of the world, how he may please his wife," says the Apostle Paul, and Aleksey Aleksandrovich, who was now guided in every action by Scripture, often recalled this text. It seemed to him that ever since he had been left without a wife he had in these very projects of reform been serving the Lord more zealously than before.

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"He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: but he that is married careth for the things of the world, how he may please his wife
32 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:
33 But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.
34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
 I Corinthians 7:32-34

*All Scripture quotes are from the King James Version unless otherwise stated.

(Source: BibleGateway. Image Source: WikiPaintings)


2 comments:

  1. I've always wondered if Paul's statements there are more from personal observation or if he i slaying down a scriptural principle. I tend to think more the former than the latter. What do you think, Adriana?

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    Replies
    1. If it is merely an observation, it is a keen one. I believe I'd call it a strong suggestion. He ends the whole discourse with:

      "I think also that I have the Spirit of God."

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