The Wilful Sunflower

In my previous post, I wrote, “It goes without saying that my future partner should be a Christian.”

I wonder if anyone read that and asked, “It DOES?!”

It might be enough to know that the Bible says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (II Corinthians 6:14).

Or perhaps it is not enough. It’s a narrow-minded view, some argue.

“My girl respects my beliefs and I respect hers, she loves me for who I am and I in turn love her for who she is and is not!” someone insisted, terribly upset. Another person said, “As long as he doesn’t stop me from going to church, I don’t see any harm in it. We can just each do our own thing.”

Have you ever heard a lonelier statement? Imagine, two people in a relationship, each “doing their own thing”. Oh, I don’t mean they should be joined at the hip and living in each other’s pockets. But remember, a relationship is not just built on emotion, it’s built on intimacy and sharing. And if my partner isn’t of the same faith, how would we be able to share anything at a deeper level? Sure, I could tell him stuff, but he wouldn’t be “into” it. He wouldn’t get it. He loves me, and he respects my views, so he’d go, “Uh-huh, honey. That’s nice.” We wouldn’t be able to connect at all!

Walking with God is a journey and an adventure. Like any other journey, I tend to get excited at times when certain things happen along the way, or when God says something to me that touches my heart. If my husband is a Christian, he will know where I’m coming from and we can share the joys and sorrows of the journey, encouraging each other along the way.

I don’t want to have to hold back, always weighing and measuring my words, afraid that my husband will get impatient with me for talking about God again. Unable to tell him stuff because I know he won’t understand, or because he might ridicule my beliefs. Doing my own thing, and leaving him to do his own thing. No true intimacy between us at all.

No, I want ONENESS in my marriage, that we would truly be “one flesh”. And that is why, to me, it goes without saying that my future partner should be a Christian. Not just because God insists on it, but simply because it only makes sense. God is a very practical God; He had good reasons for imposing this restriction! And, as always, the restrictions are only for our good. :)