The Bible refers to several passages that outline the importance of understanding that a Christian should not marry someone who does not share the same beliefs. So it is unsuitable for a Jesus’ follower to be in an unequally yoked marriage. By reading this article, you will understand that the Bible does not condemn the choice but only does not recommend it.
What does the Bible say about dating?
The Bible says we can meet people, but the fundamental role of dating is exclusively marriage. The Bible refers to dating for marriage. That is the role of absolute dating. The Bible teaches us not to yoke together with unbelievers. The yoke is used to pull cattle. The horse and the donkey have a hat with which to harness them. The ox’s strength is in his neck. The horse is more in the front part of his body. The ox is considered a clean animal, having a cloven hoof and being ruminant, whereas the horse is unrestrained and has an unsplit claw.
One pulls to the left. Another pulls to the right at the same time. One stands still, not liking it. Another goes forward. The same thing happens in marriage. The Christian’s pleasures, activities, and priorities are opposite to those of the non-Christian partner.
Do not be trapped in an unequally yoked marriage.
This verse refers to the union between a believer and an unbeliever. It generally refers to two animals of different species being forced to wear a yoke. One of those burdened with the yoke will pull more than the other. But if both are of the same species, both will have the same strength and pull for the common good.
He wants to point out that things cannot work so well between two people who do not have the same goal: the glory of God, the knowledge of God, and the spiritual evolution of the relationship.
Is it okay to be in an unequally yoked marriage?
It’s not beneficial to be different from your partner in the mission because there will be times when both partners will feel overcome. With different negative feelings and thus only one of the partners. The faithful one will get to fight to restore and rehabilitate the relationship. If you are the woman more involved in the relationship, there must be moments of crisis in your life when you will need spiritual support and support from your husband.
Moments like losing a child, having no chance of getting pregnant, pregnancy, and children will need you to be a devoted mother and your husband to be a loving wife. But if your husband lacks understanding and spiritual support, you will fall into another negative extreme.
The same goes for the man who is considered the head of the family and has to support everything that concerns his family. But if he is married to an unfaithful, worldly woman who does not understand the importance of spiritual growth and prayerful support, the man will end up as mentioned above. In both cases, both partners must know how to offer support and affection not only in body but also in soul and spirit (to understand more about The importance of spirituality in our lives, read the article entitled by clicking on its name).
Can Christians date non-Christians?
Christians are allowed to meet with unbelievers. But the recommendation of the Bible and Christian people and pastors is not to meet with a person with whom you have nothing in common spiritually. Because then the Christian partner will be pulled down by the unbeliever. The Bible says we can meet people, but the fundamental role of dating is exclusively marriage.
The Bible refers to dating for marriage. That is the role of absolute dating. When Paul speaks of these things, he has in mind the picture that says, “Do not sow in your vineyard two kinds of seed, lest you also sow the fruit of the seed you have sown and the fruit of the vine. Thou shalt not plow with an ox and donkey grazed together. Thou shalt not wear a garment woven of two kinds of yarn, wool and linen joined together.” The general idea is that there are things that are fundamentally incompatible with each other and, therefore, cannot be put together.
In fact, in a relationship, people have to do their best to create a spiritual connection. If this requirement is met, many of the couple’s problems will be solved spiritually through prayer and fasting. God allows marriage between a believer and an unbeliever but only says it is not as beneficial as a relationship between two people who want to be in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Is sex before marriage a sin?
Sex before marriage is a sin before God. God does not want every person to have known another person sexually. Sex is allowed, but strictly within marriage.
God accepts them when romance and sexuality are manifested strictly within the marriage bond. They are true gifts of the Creator to the couple, strengthening their relationship. Marriage is not only about romance and sexual relations but also essential.
The Bible encourages husbands and wives to be romantic, adding to the other aspects of marriage the fragrance and color that make it desirable. “May your spring be blessed, and enjoy the wife of your youth. Beloved deer, pleasant doe, be intoxicated by her drabness, be unquenchably in love with her love.“
Does God bless unequally yoked marriages?
God blesses even the wrong marriages, but not as much as those in which believers grow spiritually together. God’s plan for blessing marriage is for it to be monogamous, between two people of different sexes, and permanent. The duration of the wedding, according to biblical principles. Extends for the entire life of both spouses, ending only with the death of one or both spouses.
“To those who are married, I give this commandment, not I, but the Lord: the wife must not separate from her husband; if she separates, she must remain unmarried or marry her husband, and the husband must not divorce his wife. To the rest, I say, not the Lord, that if a brother has an unfaithful wife and wants to stay with him, he must not divorce her, and if a woman has a cheating husband and he wants to stay with her, she must not divorce her husband.
The unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but so they are holy. But if the unbeliever wants to separate, let him separate. In such circumstances, the man or woman is not bound. God has called you to peace. For what do you know, wife, if you will save your husband? Or what do you know, husband, if you will keep your wife?”
3 Main Consequences of Marrying an Unbeliever
1. Bad company corrupts good manners
There is a significant risk that if you are in an unequally yoked marriage, the one who has turned to God will lose faith due to the partner who does not share the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. It is recommended that we not climb on the same mountain and at the same yoke with an unbeliever.
2. Physical and verbal abuse
In any marriage, tense moments and divergent opinions can degenerate into arguments. Most of them originate in the weaknesses and flaws of the earthly nature of both spouses. The Bible always calls for their resolution without physical or verbal violence.
3. Divorce
In the Old Testament, divorce was tolerated by God, but it was not encouraged or promoted. The reason why divorce was taken is given by Christ Himself in dialogue with the Pharisees: the hardness of heart.
Spiritual growth in marriage
“The family that prays stays together,” says an American proverb. It’s hard enough to understand what spiritual growth means and looks like despite all the opinions and teachings we receive from the right and left, and it is not good to find yourself in an unequally yoked marriage. The Apostle Peter conveyed to us that we should grow in grace. This involves sharing our hearts with God. (If you want more information about Peter’s testimony, access the following link: Apostle Peter, the disciple of love.)
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” ( Genesis 2:24 ). The phrase “one flesh” suggests God’s plan for the marriage bond, which was to bring the two into a relationship of the perfect union on all levels: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
The connection with divinity is deeply dug into the atoms and molecules of man’s being because of the image of God that he bears in the structure of his being. When we disobey God, we transgress the above commandment; sin builds a wall of separation between God and us and makes us vulnerable before the other god.
Billy Graham points out the three temptations that knock at the door of the heart of God’s men: the desire for women, fame, and finances. Yoking yourself to the wrong yoke is to bind yourself in chains willingly. When you do it, expect the consequences that compelled God to send plagues, floods, and angels of death. This is why you must marry a Christian to help you fight your battles in prayer and to marry a Christian person, to help you fight your battles in prayer and to overcome every trial.
How to pray for your spouse? Prayer for my husband
Pray every day, not just in a desperate situation. Every family needs love, understanding, and support over the years for everything to go well. Don’t forget that you can ask God to help you to have harmony and experience in your marriage. He will not delay in being there for you if you ask Him.
, Help me that by my obedience, by my gentleness, by my patience and love,
to crown his days with flowers and joys, to share with him without a murmur all the blows of life…
and to be his constant companion, as in happiness so in trouble.
Keep me from the unadorned adornments and the follies into which women fall who know not the price of a good husband,
…putting all their happiness into vain, noise that brings misunderstanding, disappointment, and pain.Help me learn all the virtues that make a woman’s adornment,
for age or infirmity shall raise the flower of beauty and youth.
May I have a heart worthy of the love of my husband and our sons, that I may set them a good example, strengthening them in the power of virtue?
Hear my humble voice, Lord, and send your blessing upon our days. “Amen.
Primary Takeaways
- It is better to marry someone who shares the same beliefs as you
- If you marry a non-believer, you may fall from faith and never come back
- Sex before marriage is a sin