"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness." 2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV
I am amazed sometimes at how much the Bible always gives me a practical application for life even during this day and age. Paul gives us a great illustration about marriage. I can imagine the people that first read this thought about two oxen being yoked together to pull a plow across the ground. If one ox pulls in another direction, there is a major problem. They won't pull in straight lines and the field will look like Otis plowed them. Growing up in a farming community as a young child and having a grandfather that had a HUGE garden I know the importance of straight lines when you are plowing a field. In order for the field to be laid correctly both animals need to pull in the same direction at the same speed. They have to work together.
This is a HUGE metaphor for marriage. Ideally, people are designed to be married to someone whose basic ideas of what life is meant to be is like their own. If you aren't married, trust me when I tell you to be patient until you find the person with the same source of faith, the same values, and the same direction in life. And if you are already married, work towards finding that common ground in every area of your lives. Your marriage deserves all the focus and energy you can give it. Listen to me when I say this, marriage is not 50-50! If both sides don't put in 100% of their time, energy, and faith into the marriage, odds are it won't be successful. Just like those oxen I was talking about, you have to pull in the same direction at the same time or it won't be effective.
That doesn't mean that you will always see eye to eye on every single issue that comes up. You don't have to like the same color (guys, let them paint the living room what ever color they want, you will thank me later!), you don't have to pull for the same team. In Alabama, I know more than a few marriages that are successful even though one is for Alabama and the other is for Auburn. If love is at the center of your relationship and you can move forward in harmony on the important, foundational issues that come up in your life, I promise you will be all the richer for it. God has an awesome ability to complement our lives with someone who can make you even more complete that you may already be.
Don't settle for less than you deserve. God has someone designed for you and it may come from where you least expect it. We all deserve a loving, caring spouse who is on the same page with us-pulling in the same direction in life.
Trust me when I tell you that your decisions about who you marry will impact everything you do the rest of your life. Be patient (hard, ain't it!) and I promise you will find the person God has created for you. Never settle for second best. God will guide you to His first choice!
I am amazed sometimes at how much the Bible always gives me a practical application for life even during this day and age. Paul gives us a great illustration about marriage. I can imagine the people that first read this thought about two oxen being yoked together to pull a plow across the ground. If one ox pulls in another direction, there is a major problem. They won't pull in straight lines and the field will look like Otis plowed them. Growing up in a farming community as a young child and having a grandfather that had a HUGE garden I know the importance of straight lines when you are plowing a field. In order for the field to be laid correctly both animals need to pull in the same direction at the same speed. They have to work together.
This is a HUGE metaphor for marriage. Ideally, people are designed to be married to someone whose basic ideas of what life is meant to be is like their own. If you aren't married, trust me when I tell you to be patient until you find the person with the same source of faith, the same values, and the same direction in life. And if you are already married, work towards finding that common ground in every area of your lives. Your marriage deserves all the focus and energy you can give it. Listen to me when I say this, marriage is not 50-50! If both sides don't put in 100% of their time, energy, and faith into the marriage, odds are it won't be successful. Just like those oxen I was talking about, you have to pull in the same direction at the same time or it won't be effective.
That doesn't mean that you will always see eye to eye on every single issue that comes up. You don't have to like the same color (guys, let them paint the living room what ever color they want, you will thank me later!), you don't have to pull for the same team. In Alabama, I know more than a few marriages that are successful even though one is for Alabama and the other is for Auburn. If love is at the center of your relationship and you can move forward in harmony on the important, foundational issues that come up in your life, I promise you will be all the richer for it. God has an awesome ability to complement our lives with someone who can make you even more complete that you may already be.
Don't settle for less than you deserve. God has someone designed for you and it may come from where you least expect it. We all deserve a loving, caring spouse who is on the same page with us-pulling in the same direction in life.
Trust me when I tell you that your decisions about who you marry will impact everything you do the rest of your life. Be patient (hard, ain't it!) and I promise you will find the person God has created for you. Never settle for second best. God will guide you to His first choice!
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