I ran across some verses that, in my Christian walk, have not been discussed much. Paul is instructing the church in Corinth on Christian marriage…
Now, for those who are married I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her husband. But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else go back to him. And the husband must not leave his wife. Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a Christian man has a wife who is an unbeliever and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her. And if a Christian woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him. For the Christian wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the Christian husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not have a godly influence, but now they are set apart for him. (But if the husband or wife who isn't a Christian insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the Christian husband or wife is not required to stay with them, for God wants his children to live in peace.) You wives must remember that your husbands might be converted because of you. And you husbands must remember that your wives might be converted because of you. [1 Cor 7:10-16]This suggests to me that marriage is an incredible life-long commitment for the Christian marriage, even in difficult situations such as being married to an unbeliever. Thankfully God does want us to live in peace and if it comes down to it we can do what is needed. I have a very high respect for those who are married to non-believers, I can only imagine (since many of my friends and family are not believers) what frustrations arise.
The other passage is in first Timothy:
Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe; they will follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons. These teachers are hypocrites and liars. They pretend to be religious, but their consciences are dead. They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanksgiving by people who know and believe the truth. Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it. We may receive it gladly, with thankful hearts. For we know it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. [1 Tim 4:1-5]This is along slightly different lines but it makes me wonder about today, many people no longer "believe" in marriage. It is something which God did create, for one man and one woman (please I don't want to go there, and I will turn off comments if it does). But today people are not living by this, it just makes me wonder about the "last times." I know we will never know and he will come when we least expect it and we should always be ready, so I will be, but I think a little curiosity (in wisdom) never killed anyone.
PS. I've changed the commenting system, I'm now back to Haloscan full time, I got it to mimic the features of Blogger's system but with the great features it has always had.
