First, Lybrah, I would like to quote 1 Corinthians 7:7 >
"For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that." (1 Corinthians 7:7)
Here, I understand, Paul is talking about either being a celibate or being married. And it looks like each is a
"gift from God". And I already said, above, how I understand this means for a Christian. And this means how we are seeking and submitting to God, so we are living in our gifts and callings. And Colossians 3:!5 says our basic calling includes submitting to how our Heavenly personally rules each of us in His own peace. And so we discover how He has His gifts succeeding in us and our lives.
So, in case I am right about this, why would God give someone the
"gift" of celibacy?
Well, first of all > in general, every
"gift from God" is
"good" and
"perfect" >
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." (James 1:17)
A gift of God, then, is good and perfect; but we are not good and perfect, right? So, any gift of God helps us to have more and better ability than we ourselves tend to have. And so, it is so important and helpful and encouraging how new Christians who are immature can have special gifts which make them able to do good to others and get encouraged because they are important even as young children of God. Because their gifts minister God's own grace which is so essential to all of us >
"Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." (1 Peter 4:9-10)
So, yes, a gift can give someone certain practical and outwardly showing ability, but deeply every real gift of the Holy Spirit is essential because of how it is deeply ministering God's own grace.
So, I would say this is a basic reason why a person needs one's gift of celibacy if a person is chosen and gifted to be single. There is always the basic of being able to minister God's own grace to others. And, by grace, I mean the action of God's own love changing our nature to be more and more like Jesus, since our basic destiny as children of God is we will be
"conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." (in Romans 8:29) And the grace of this gift is effecting the celibate while he or she is ministering this. So, this is part of why he or she needs this gift.
Each gift is of God who is
"love" >
"God is love" > in 1 John 4:8&16. So, any real gift of God is a gift of love. And celibacy is a gift with a love calling to specialize in getting closer to and devoted to God while ministering for others also to get more and more intimate with God. The gifted person can help other celibates and married people who also need to get closer and closer to God. So, this is an important gift with this love calling which helps us with our First Love Commandment which is to love God with all we've got.
And yes the gift of marriage helps us with our Second Love Commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. In marriage we can make breakthrough research discoveries of how to love in a close relationship, and this can help us then to personally and tenderly care for any and all others, as ourselves. But humanly we do not tend to use marriage to help us learn how to love any and all people; we can tend to love selfishly, according to our limited motives and character. And God's love in the gift of holy matrimony changes us to find out how to love the way God wants, and we minister this to other married people and to celibates who also need to grow and mature in how to relate with any and all people.
Grace in us changes us to be more with God so we can tenderly share and care as God's family (Ephesians 4:31-32), plus be ready to adopt new children of God who have gotten saved. And gifted married people can minister this to us, so we do better in our marriages or as celibates who also need to learn more and more maturely.