The Powerful Ministry of the Single Life
Singles
Audio By Carbonatix
By Liz Lampkin, Crosswalk.com
Ministry. A call to serve others in the name of Christ. A call to meet the needs of others, inside and outside of the walls of the church. Actions taken as one is called to move in love and humility.
Ministries are typically designed to meet the specific needs of surrounding communities. Many people are called to serve in prayer ministries, worship ministries, marriage ministries, and teaching ministries, just to name a few. While members of the Body of Christ are called to serve collectively in various ministries according to their spiritual gifts, many often fail to realize that one's individual life serves as a ministry as well. Many believers and nonbelievers often understand ministry to be limited to specific leadership roles within the church.
They misconstrue a life and calling to ministry with specific titles that provide a sense of "power," or particular ministries are often held to a higher standard because of titles. While church leaders are held to a certain standard because their call to ministry is different, the sum and substance of ministry is service.
Unmarried believers often involve themselves in various ministries to support the work of the church or to fulfill their loneliness. While there is nothing wrong with serving in ministry, many singles often fail to realize that their life as an unmarried Christian is a ministry.
How so? I'm glad you asked.
Singleness is a ministry, and those who have been called to singleness for the appointed time God allows have sanctified work to do for His Kingdom. Singleness is a multifaceted ministry, meaning, singleness is not linear. It is filled with multiple categories of singles in which those who are called to different phases of it serve in different capacities. For instance, singles are categorized as single-never married, single parents, divorcees, and widows/widowers, just to name a few.
The lives of single believers serve as a ministry no matter what season of singleness they are in, or whether or not they are in a designated ministry or standing in the gap as God's ambassador. However, many singles aren't taught that their lives serve as a ministry in singleness, thus, they don't know how to walk in that work. So, if you're an unmarried believer and you're wondering how your singleness is a ministry, then keep reading to discover how.
Express and Show the Love of Christ in Singleness
Expressing/showing God's love in singleness can be difficult for many unmarried believers simply because they believe they have never been on the receiving end of love. However, singles can express and show the love of Christ in their singleness by praying for other singles to live as God has called them to live. They can also share their faith with others, believers and nonbelievers alike. Everyone can use a reminder of how God loved us all so much that He sacrificed His son for our sins.
Serve in Ways That Use Your Gifts Well
Singles can use their time wisely to serve God by serving others in areas where they are gifted. If you're a single believer and you are seeking ways to minister to others with your life, take a spiritual gift inventory, and begin working where God has gifted you.
As you embark on serving, be mindful of the way you serve. With each act of service in ministry, make sure your words and actions model those of Christ. During His ministry on earth, Christ served others with purpose, love, and humility. We must do the same.
Not only this, take time to manage how you serve and why you're serving. Many singles work diligently in ministry for vain reasons and then become bitter or burned out. So, as a single seeking to serve and minister with your life, be sure you are serving with pure intentions because your life may be the example another single believer is watching.
Build Relationships
Building relationships inside and outside of the Body of Christ is vital to the witness of a single believer. Singles who build relationships within their church communities help dismantle the stigma of singleness, breaking down the separation of single and married believers. It also allows room for the singles to witness to others, letting them know that singles are complete members of the Body of Christ.
Cultivating relationships outside of the Body of Christ provides a natural environment for sharing the gospel and witnessing to nonbelievers with their lives. When single believers build relationships broadly, they mirror Christ Himself who formed intimate bonds with His disciples and reached beyond the margins of society, all while being single.
Model Christ's Sufficiency
The Word of God teaches us that God's grace is sufficient. It also teaches us that Christ has everything we need. A single's life can model Christ's sufficiency by first thanking God for your singleness. Many singles are frustrated during these seasons and find it hard to be thankful for their singleness. However, the more you think about how God has kept you, in and out of relationships, the more you will see God's sufficiency in your life.
Another way to model Christ's sufficiency in your single life is to surrender your fears, uncertainties and concerns to God regarding your singleness. When you do this, you are leaning on God's omnipotent power to sustain you during the times when you struggle in singleness.
Modeling a Christ-Centered Identity
As a Christian, we are called and created to be Christ-like. As a single Christian, you can model the life of Christ by studying Scriptures that define your single character. You can also cultivate virtues that show the blessing of living as an unmarried believer. Modeling a Christ-centered identity can help produce more disciples, thus growing the Body of Christ. Actions speak louder than words, and you want your actions to show that you are a blessed, single believer of Christ.
Living as a Witness in Contentment
Living as a single witness in contentment means understanding that the peace that comes with being content does not stem from personal possessions or people. It is being at peace with the seasons of singleness God has kept you in, and displaying an attitude of gratitude with actions that match your witness. Being content in the state God has placed you in means that you trust Him with that season of your life, and your life should reveal your trust.
Challenge the Idolization of Marriage
Singles can challenge the idolization of marriage in several ways. One way is to bring attention to overlooked Scriptures that highlight singles in the Bible and build fruitful conversations and lessons on them. For example, the Bible often highlights widows, disciples and prophets who all served a God-given purpose, and yes they were single.
Another way singles can challenge this idolization is to teach their church communities how to engage in single-centered conversations, rather than marriage-centered ones. For instance, singles can shift conversations and questions away from "When are you getting married?" to "How has God blessed you in your singleness?" Not only will this change the conversation pattern, but it will affirm singles on their journey.
These are just a few ways singles can show how the life of a single Christian is a ministry that can bless others beyond what one can imagine. Singles, as you continue this journey in singleness, please understand that your calling to singleness is a ministry that God has gifted you to fulfill a purpose He's designed for you. And believe it or not, your ministry in singleness is not rooted in seeking marriage.
As a single believer, you minister not just through what you do, but through who you are and the way you live. By living purposefully and joyfully, you can challenge cultural narratives of loneliness or lack, offering a Christ-centered model of wholeness. Single believers, your life serves as a living testimony to others. It shows that your purpose and wholeness aren't rooted in marriage, but in dependency upon God. Your life embodies a freedom to serve God as He calls you and to witness to others in a way that only you can do.
Being single is not a waiting room for "real ministry"; it is ministry. It's the lived demonstration that life with God is complete, fruitful, and overflowing with ways to serve others. Many singles often fail to see how their singleness is a ministry, so it's important for single believers to learn how to take charge of their singleness. You can start by shifting your mindset from lack to abundance. Singles, stop measuring yourselves against marriage and instead measure your lives by fruitfulness in Christ.
You can also normalize sharing your testimony of how God uses you in ministry work, and how He's kept you in perfect peace even when you didn't recognize it. A single life doesn't need permission to be a ministry because it already is. The learning comes from recognizing that every act of faithfulness, service, love, and obedience testifies of God's Kingdom.
Related Resource: The Heart of True Hospitality
Hospitality is more than setting a table or opening your home. It’s a posture of the heart—a way of seeing and responding to the people God places in your path. True hospitality flows from God’s generous welcome to us and creates spaces of belonging wherever we go.
In this episode of the Unhurried Living Podcast, Gem Fadling talks with Laura Murray, author of Becoming a Person of Welcome, about moving from performance-based hosting to a transformed life of welcome. Drawing from her Armenian heritage, years in church leadership, and a rich theology of God’s hospitality, Laura offers practical steps for cultivating authentic connection, listening deeply, setting healthy boundaries, and leading others into a lifestyle of welcome.
Whether you’re a ministry leader, a community builder, or simply someone longing for relationships rooted in grace, this conversation will inspire you to carry God’s presence into everyday moments. If this episode helps you recenter your work and life on God, be sure to subscribe to Unhurried Living on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
Author Liz Lampkin is an experienced writer, teacher, and speaker. She is an advocate for singles who encourages them to live their best life God’s way. Follow her on Instagram @Liz_Lampkin.
