Unyoking yourself

There are a couple of final things I should mention before moving on from this passage.

First, if you are a Christian that is married to an unbeliever, I am not saying that you should unyoke yourself from them. If you married them in rebellion to God’s word, then I believe you need to repent.

However, having repented, it then puts you in a place where perhaps God can use you.

Paul tells you in 1 Corinthians 7 that as long as your partner is willing to live with you, (and hopefully they are), that you should continue with them.

For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband.

Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. (1 Corinthians 7:14)

I don’t believe that God is saying that he will guarantee their salvation.

What I do think he means is that as long as you’re there, the Spirit of God will work through you and touch your spouse and children in ways that he might not if you were not there.

And obviously, there’s a much greater chance of them being saved if you are there.

In short, you can make a difference. The main thing is that you have your own relationship with God in order. He cannot use you if it is not.

At the very least, he will be very restricted in what he can do through you, if there’s unrepentant sin in your life.

But if you find yourself regretting your marriage because your spouse is an unbeliever, hang in there. God can use you to turn the situation around.

As I mentioned several blogs ago, however, there are other ways we can be unequally yoked that have nothing to do with marriage.

It may be a non-Christian friend that has undue influence on you. It may be a parent (namely, after you have reached adulthood). And of course, it may be a non-Christian boyfriend or girlfriend.

You may be finding that because of their influence, it’s hurting your relationship with God.

How do you deal with that? It’s very touchy to say the least, and it has to be dealt with in gentleness.

Reaffirm your love for them. But tell them that they seem to be going in a different direction in life than you are and you need to go down the path God is leading you.

Then depending on your relationship with them, you either need to break off the relationship or put enough distance between you and them that they can no longer influence you.

That distance may be physical (like moving out of your parent’s house, assuming of course that you’re an adult), or simply a matter of spending less time with that person.

Hopefully, they will understand. Some will not.

But as long as you are yoked to their influence in their lives, you will never be able to follow God as you ought. So unyoke yourself. Start following after Jesus.

And if you do, you will find the blessings God has promised.

I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people…

I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:16-18)