LIVE YOUNG, FREE AND SINGLE
What makes mJa member Lizbeth Johnson rave with excitement...

For the past 12 years - since the break-up of a relationship - I have been single.

Has being single meant I've been "sitting on the shelf" for the past 12 years? Not at all - more like extreme bungee-jumping into God's heart, I'd say!

Through being single, God has caused me to go on a journey with Him; to dig deep, face fears and get to the bottom of who Liz really is, without running and hiding in a relationship to give me an identity or to verify who I am.

It has been scary, sometimes painful - but it's causing me to find a wholeness, stability and freedom to love and serve God and people more easily.

This freedom is something that I long for others to find, instead of falling into the trap of worrying about why they haven't found Mr/Mrs Right yet.

I hate to see people intimidated and pressurised by fear of what others may deem to be success or failure, being forced to follow a certain pattern of behaviour. It's good to have the freedom and guts to listen to God and let Him lead.

Some of us - in that freedom to listen - may be to receive the gift of celibacy, to make a commitment to stay single as a lifelong choice. For others, marriage may be the way. But ultimately God will be leading us to know who we are in Him (whatever way He may lead us) - and to know His love for us. Singleness - not marriage though that may come, not lifelong celibacy though that may come - singleness can provide the space we need to hear God and allow Him to shape our lives. I've learnt to live for today, in its fullness - not for the cares and maybes of the future.