Choosing a life partner

[vitality22004]

I have had friends that that has happened to you and it is terrible cos you feel God doesn't feel you are good enough. I have also seen the situation where guys say that God gave them a Word that you are their wife and it's just their flesh talking or when well meaning people think that two people in church belong together and there is no chemistry. It's difficult when spiritual things get mixed up with matters of the heart, yet this is the most important decision anyone can make and so it's natural to want God's input in your life.

[peaches]

while i was looking for the unequally yoked scripture...i found this website that summarises ur question nicely. there are also a couple of things on there that relate to this topic. here is what i found....

In the Bible 2 Corinthians 6:14 says:

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?" (KJV)

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (NIV)

"Do not be teamed with those who do not love the Lord, for what do the people of God have in common with the people of sin? How can light live with darkness?" (LB)

What does it mean to be unequally yoked?

Definition of YOKE: (from Latin to join) - a wooden bar or frame by which two draft animals (as oxen) are joined at the heads or necks for working together. (From Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)

Literally: the Bible uses beasts of burden as an example. If a donkey and an ox are yoked together (which God forbid the people of Israel to do in Deuteronomy 22:10), the yoke will weigh heavily on one animal while choking the other, or as the animal with the longer stride moves ahead it will painfully drag the other along by the neck! They would not be able to pull smoothly or painlessly together and little work would get done. But when two animals of approximately the same size and weight are yoked together, they pull the plow smoothly, helping each other, and work is accomplished.

Spiritually: becoming attached to a person who does not share your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior can be just as painful and counterproductive as the illustration of the unequally yoked animals. Whether attached financially (as in a business partnership) or emotionally (as a spouse), you are connected to someone who cannot "pull" equally with you in life.

Obviously, I've simplified this a great deal but I hope you understand what I mean.

How does a person become unequally yoked?

Certainly no one sets out in life and says, "I'm going to marry a godless heathen someday!" Still, there are several ways you could find yourself unequally yoked in marriage. Perhaps you were ignorant of your potential spouse's spiritual condition; you never asked him about his beliefs. Or perhaps you asked but he misrepresented himself by telling you he was a Christian when he wasn't. Maybe you married an unbeliever because you didn't know that God's Word prohibits it. Or you might have been fully aware of what God's Word says, but you willfully married an unbeliever anyway. Finally, both you and your spouse may have been unbelievers when you married and you came to faith before your husband.

[vitality22004]

Thank you Peaches for your detailed explaination. It gave me lots to think about. I think sometimes even though we may have married the 'right person' in our other relationships we can be unequally yoked and that can influence our judegement and our walk with God. If we are not clear on what our stand should be, it is easier to get into situations where feelings and emotions get entangled and then decisions become difficult. There are certain relationships as a believer that you just have to steer clear of when it comes to romance and we need to be absolutely resolute that these are not options we can give any room to: unbelievers, married or committed people and anyone else you feel a check in your spirit about.