What did Paul mean when he said 'I wish all men were even as I myself' in 1 Corinthians 7?
Paul meant he wished all men could be unmarried as he was, not because marriage is wrong, but because he expected the Lord’s imminent return and foresaw intense persecution. Being single would spare a wife and children the anguish of a husband seized at night or children kidnapped, allowing one to face persecution and death alone.
Les explains that Paul is referring to his own single state when he says, “I wish all men were even as I myself.” Paul was not forbidding marriage or family; the context shows a reason. Paul expected the Lord to come at any moment, and Les suggests that by sovereign grace Paul had a foreview of the horrible persecution coming upon Christians. If persecution suddenly fell, it would be easier to be single: a wife would not suffer her husband being taken away in the middle of the night, and children would not be kidnapped. It would be better to be alone, face persecution and death, and have it over with.
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.