Verse 7
Paul evidently was not a married man when he wrote this epistle (1 Corinthians 7:8). We do not have enough information about his life to know whether he had never married, had become a widower, or if his wife had left him.
To Paul the single state had certain advantages for a servant of the Lord such as himself. He had to put up with many hardships in his ministry that would have been difficult for a wife to share. Moreover God had given him grace to live as a single person without feeling consumed by the fires of lust (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:9). "Burning" was a very common description of unfulfilled passion in Greek and Roman literature. [Note: Keener, p. 63.]
He wished everyone could live as he did, but he realized that most could not. Each person has his or her own special gift (Gr. charisma) from God, some to live single and some to live married (cf. Matthew 19:12). These are spiritual gifts just as much as those gifts listed in chapters 12-14 are. The gift of celibacy is a special ability that God gives only some people to feel free from the desire or need of sexual fulfillment in marriage. [Note: Fee, The First . . ., p. 284.]
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