[RobbyS]

And if they make the same choice that Paul made? Was Paul trying to buy his way into heaven by not marrying? Or was he saying that there is a higher calling than family and children? Our Lord himself says who his real family is.

[gcruse]

Or was he saying that there is a higher calling than family and children?

From a strictly human standpoint, I would say no, there is not.
And for church elders to require their most ardent
followers  to give up the greatest joys of being human
is, well, inhuman.  God seems not to require it. It was not
an issue with Jesus, and did not come into effect for
three hundred years.  What a waste.

[DallasMike]

Or was he saying that there is a higher calling than family and children?

There is a higher calling and Paul says that if a person can accept not being married, then it is a good thing. However, he also said that it was a heresy for the church to forbid marriage to someone, and he also made it plain that Peter and many of the apostles had wives who travelled with them.

The fact remains that forbidding clergy to marry is a Gnostic heresy that entered the church long after the early days.