World-renowned evangelist Billy Graham has a lot of sympathy for single parents, because raising a child alone is one of the most difficult and demanding responsibilities anyone can ever face.
When a single mother wrote to Graham, asking for advice whether it would be acceptable to have her boyfriend move in with her and help raise her children, the evangelist suggested she "seek God's wisdom."
"I urge you not to make your problems worse by allowing this person to move in with you. It's tempting, I know, to seek help wherever you can find it, but this isn't the road you should travel," he writes in his advice column for The Kansas City Star. "Not only will you put your children at risk of neglect or even abuse, but you'll also be giving them a bad example for their own lives."
Graham told the single mother to reflect honestly on whether she would want her children to live the same way when they grow up. If the answer is no, then he said he hoped she would not let her boyfriend move in.
"The greatest message I can give you is this: God loves you. He loves you so much that he doesn't want you to continue seeking happiness in wrong ways, ways that will only bring you trouble," he continues. "This is why God commands us to avoid sexual relationships outside of marriage."
The Bible verse Hebrews 13:4 says: "Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral."
Instead of contemplating whether or not she and her boyfriend should live as one, Graham says she should just commit her life to Jesus. "Ask Him to come into your life today, and then ask Him to give you the courage to turn your back on the past and begin following Him," he says.
