Old And New: Devotions From Time Of Grace MinistryShembull

Choose wisely whom you marry now

Okay, that was then and this is now. What does God have to say about our marriage pool in New Covenant times? Contrary to what many Americans have believed for centuries, there are no racial restrictions on marriage partners in the New Testament. Various states adopted miscegenation laws, but they didn’t come out of the New Testament.

First Corinthians chapter 7 shows that an unbelieving spouse who becomes a Christian does not have the right automatically to divorce his or her still unbelieving spouse. The hope is that the new believer’s loving words and example may draw the unbeliever into listening to the Word.

But for a Christian to choose to marry someone he or she knows is an unbeliever poses huge risks. That person could become a spiritual boat anchor, dragging you down, draining your spiritual energy, making fun of your commitment, adding resistance to a life that has enough problems already. St. Paul’s advice: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? . . . What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16).

Listen to your Christian friends and family. Think before you leap.