Saint Paul — "For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gi…"
For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.
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More from Saint Paul
"I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
"But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence."
"I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."
"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha."
"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Paul wishes everyone could live as he does—celibate and fully devoted to spiritual work—but recognizes that isn't realistic or right for everyone. Each person receives a different gift from God, and those gifts take different forms. Some are suited for single life, others for marriage. The point is that diverse callings are legitimate, and people shouldn't feel pressured to copy someone else's path when their own strengths lie elsewhere.
Relevance to Saint Paul
Paul wrote this in 1 Corinthians 7 while unmarried and traveling constantly to plant churches across the Roman Empire. His itinerant missionary life—shipwrecks, prisons, beatings—would have been nearly impossible with a family. Yet as a former Pharisee trained under Gamaliel, he understood Jewish tradition valuing marriage. His willingness to affirm others' different callings reflects his pastoral flexibility toward the messy, mixed congregations he founded in places like Corinth.
The era
In first-century Corinth, a bustling Roman port notorious for sexual license and temple prostitution, new Christians were wrestling with how to handle marriage, celibacy, and sexuality. Greco-Roman culture prized marriage for civic duty and heirs, while some ascetic philosophical schools praised celibacy. Paul was writing to a fractured church asking him practical questions amid this tension, and expectations of Christ's imminent return also shaped his counsel that present arrangements mattered less than devotion.
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