The Single Truth [Paperback]

Lori Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2002

Approximately 50 percent of American adults are single. Many of them don’t feel as though they fit in at church. Some wonder what they did wrong to miss the person they were supposed to marry. If they’re divorced, they may carry a burden of guilt and lies. They’re lonely, and many believe they’ve missed God’s greatest blessing for their lives. They want to be content but don’t think it’s possible. For some, singleness means fear, grief, and jealousy.

If you are single and struggling with its attendant "stigma," The Single Truth offers you God’s liberating truths about singleness. Lori Smith clears away the fog and lies surrounding singleness and challenges you to live a full life and to see your singleness as a part of God’s good plan. She powerfully affirms that:

* You’re OK just the way you are.

* You have no need to be ashamed.

* You are deeply loved by God.

* Marriage isn’t better or worse—it’s different.

* You can be content.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Her advice is practical, challenging, and encouraging. An excellent addition to the body of Christian work about the single life." -- CCM Magazine, October 2002

"This book rocks! If you're struggling with being single, you need to read this book." -- Ben Young, author and host of Single Connection

"This book rocks! If you're struggling with being single, you need to read this book." -- Ben Young, author and host of the nationally syndicated

Book Description

For some, singleness means fear, grief, and jealousy. For readers who are single and struggling with its attendant "stigma, " Smith offers God's liberating truths about singleness and clears away the fog to see singleness as a part of God's good plan.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Destiny Image Publishers (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0768430046
• ISBN-13: 978-0768430042
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #844,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lori Smith is a freelance writer and a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Her writing has appeared in Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly, Washingtonian Magazine, BreakPoint Online, Discipleship Journal and Today's Christian Woman. Her first book, The Single Truth, approached singleness thoughtfully from a Christian perspective. She lives in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., where she takes ballet, drinks tea, and runs the Jane Austen Quote of the Day blog. Her next big life goal is to adopt a dog, and to return to England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars And that's the truth!, August 10, 2003

By 

Kelly L. Norman "li'l rock & roller" (Plymouth, MI United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Single Truth (Paperback)

Finally! A Christian book on singlehood that isn't preachy, sugar-coated, or a thinly-disguised how-to-catch-a-spouse book (Smith states at the beginning, "as if a relationship begun by such a method would be worth having"--right on!) She attacks some of the well-meaning but wrong, and sometimes hurtful, statements from others about our singleness, such as "I know God has just the right man for you, you'll meet him someday" ....None of us knows God's plans for our friends. Or, "God must have something more to teach you". Really? Is spiritual maturity a necessity for marriage? It's not in my church!

She also points out how we tend to trivialize two of the most powerful verses in the Bible: Psalm 37:4 ("Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart"); and Jeremiah 29:11("I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"). By focusing on these verses alone and ignoring the context (David's exaltation not to fret, to trust God, to obey him; Jeremiah's missive to the captives in Babylon telling them God wants them to stay for a while, and to never forget his future plans for the nation of Israel are always good), we trivialize the verses and turn them into sayings that will somehow magically make everything better. Smith goes on to remind us how these verses do show what God does provide when we feel like we are in a holding pattern, something much better than a magic "spell".

I, like Smith, have sometimes loved being single, and sometimes hurt deeply wondering why God has "forgotten" me in this area. I found this book to be empathic but not enabling, true to Biblical principals, and very well written. A special blessing: Smith doesn't leave out widow/ers, single parents, or divorce/es, which, sadly, many Christian books on singlehood do. She also doesn't assume her audience stops after 35. And this 41 year old is very grateful.

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the TRUTH about singleness in God's Kingsdom!, May 16, 2003

By 

M. Warden "author & coach" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Single Truth (Paperback)

As an author whose writes about singleness and the Christian life, I've had occasion to read a LOT of books on singles and singleness (an occupational hazzard). Lori Smith's The Single Truth is by far the best book on the subject that I have ever picked up. In a style that is at once emotionally honest and vulnerable, yet thoroughly grounded in God's Word, Lori carries us along on her own personal (yet universal) journey as a Christian single who's disillusioned with a God who fails to do for us the things we think He should. In her quest for understanding, she moves us from a place of desperation to faith, loneliness to community, falsehood to life-giving truth.

There isn't a single anywhere (man or woman) who won't immediately relate to Lori's honest account of her struggles as a single. Her brazen honesty is refreshing--but she doesn't stop there. She goes beyond the struggle to search for genuine, realistic answers in God's Word...and she finds them. The biblical truths she shares aren't simplistic and they aren't churchy; they're real, perhaps even gritty. And they're powerful.

If you're looking for a book that encourages you to wallow in self-pity, or simply rants along with you about what a rotten hand you've been dealt in this life, then this isn't the book for you. But if you're really looking for a way out of the quiet despair that plagues so many singles, then Lori's book is the place you should begin.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Single Truth is for Everyone, September 8, 2002

By 

"katekuo" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Single Truth (Paperback)

I was single until 33 and read many books on relationships and singleness. This is the first one I've read devoted to being content as a single. Even though I'm married now, I can definitely relate to this book. I highly recommend this for both single men and women (don't let the cover fool you), as well as married couples. It provides a fresh perspective on being content at where you're at. Many singles are so focused on dating and getting married that they forget God's perspective. Please check this out no matter what your gender or marital status!