Is Celibacy something you have to work hard to attain or is it a Gift from God?
Those who think that being celibate is merely a struggle on the part of the individual are wrong, no matter how holy that struggle is. Otherwise our Lord would not have said: “but only to whom it has been given …. and he who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”
Therefore, celibacy it is a gift granted by God to individuals whose hearts He has examined, whose ardent love that pervades their life He knows. They have made eunuchs of themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. This reveals the extent and greatness of their surpassing love.
The celibate offers his life as a holy sacrifice, a sacrifice of love. It is true that everybody is invited to the kingdom, and everyone longs for the kingdom, and all are members in the body of Christ, but the soul of the celibate is a special bride of Christ.
This doses not mean that being celibate automatically stops the wars of Satan regarding celibacy or that celibates are free of trials regarding their celibacy, but as athletes, whom the hardship of their training counts for nothing, compared to the great price awaiting them.
