You Don’t Need to Be Married to Be Faithful
Written To: Single, Dating, and Engaged Men
Faithfulness starts before the covenant vow.
Those words, “covenant vow,” are very important, not just in marriage, but because the first covenant vow you should have already made, even before marriage, is one with the Heavenly Father, your Savior, your King, Jesus Christ. The faithfulness you commit to and live out now will affect the faithfulness you give to your spouse.
In a world where marriage is often seen as the finish line for purity, and where sexual integrity is marketed as a reward for commitment, many single men wrestle with a dangerous lie:
“I’ll be faithful when I’m married.”
But here’s the truth:
You don’t need to be married to be faithful. In fact, you must be faithful before you ever get married.
Faithfulness Is Not a Season. It’s a Character.
Faithfulness is not something that magically appears when you put on a wedding ring. It’s a condition of the heart, not a condition of your relationship status.
Jesus said in Luke 16:10,
“Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much.”
If we can’t be faithful in singleness, we won’t magically become faithful in marriage. Why? Because unfaithfulness isn’t rooted in lack of opportunity. It’s rooted in lack of character.
Faithfulness to God, to your future wife, to your own soul—it all begins now.
Faithfulness Isn’t Just Sexual. It’s Spiritual.
The Bible doesn’t separate sexual purity from spiritual purity. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 is clear:
“Flee from sexual immorality… you are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
You were bought. Purchased by blood. Your body isn’t a playground for your urges. It’s a temple for His Spirit. Every act of sexual self-control in singleness isn’t just a way to “save yourself” for marriage—it’s a sacrifice of worship to the One who saved you for eternity.
And let’s be honest—marriage doesn’t fix lust. If anything, it exposes it more. You don't need a wife to be sexually faithful. You need the Holy Spirit.
Marriage Isn’t the Goal—Faithfulness Is.
Paul, a single man, wrote these words in 1 Corinthians 7:7:
“I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God.”
He wasn’t bitter. He wasn’t lonely. He wasn’t lacking. Paul saw singleness not as a burden to survive but a season to leverage for the kingdom.
Too many of us are wasting our singleness waiting for someone to show up. What if God is waiting for us to grow up in our faithfulness before He brings that person?
What if this season is the refiner’s fire, forging the kind of man who doesn’t just want a wife—but knows how to love one?
Faithfulness Means Living Like You Belong to God—Because You Do
Stop living like your purity is on layaway for your future wife. It’s not.
Purity is for God.
Obedience is for God.
Faithfulness is to God.
The moment you belong to Christ, your body does too. Your eyes, your thoughts, your hands, your desires—they were never yours to begin with. You’re not waiting for marriage to get serious about purity. You’re already in a covenant—with the King.
So What Does Faithfulness Look Like in Singleness?
It looks like this:
Saying no to porn even when no one sees.
Redirecting sexual energy into serving others and building the kingdom.
Honoring women as sisters in Christ, not objects for your imagination.
Praying for your future wife—but not idolizing her.
Living like God’s presence is enough.
You can be single and faithful. You can be celibate and joyful. You can be alone and not abandoned. Why? Because Jesus is enough. And in Him, you are already called, chosen, loved, and full.
Faithfulness Now, Fruitfulness Later
You don’t need to be married to be faithful.
You need to be faithful so that when marriage does come—if it comes—you’re ready to lead, to love, and to last.
Don’t waste your singleness.
Don’t settle for compromise.
Don’t believe the lie that purity starts at the altar.
It starts at the cross.
Let’s be sons who are faithful now—not because of what we hope to get, but because of who we already belong to.
Be faithful. Be rooted. Be steadfast.
