You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World

by Alan Noble

The anthropology of “you are not your own” is not easy or free from sacrifice. By some metrics it is the less efficient way of living. There will come times in your life when you will be obligated to deny some pleasure, some intimacy, something or someone genuinely lovely because you are not your own but belong to God, and through Him, to your family and your neighbor. It may even be the case that after years of marriage you meet someone else who loves you more and with whom you would have a more pleasurable life and compatible marriage. There are a lot of beautiful, fascinating people in the world and anyone who says otherwise is a fool. But to stand before God, we do not have the freedom to abandon our responsibilities and promises when love grows cold or friendship becomes difficult or parenting is too much or caring for your elderly parents is embarrassing. We should not submit to abusive relationships and there are biblically legitimate grounds for divorce and separating yourself from certain relationships. But you are not free to pursue any desire you have. It doesn’t matter how badly you want it, how good it feels, how much you are missing out on, or how supportive our contemporary society is, we must accept our responsibilities to God, the church, our family, and our neighbors. For some of us, our obligations to others will require us to tolerate loneliness, to accept abstinence for a season or a lifetime, to live where we don’t want to live, to work a job we don’t...