BELONGING [YOKING] TOGETHER
Recently, I attended a Church Anniversary Service of The Assembly of the Living Word. It was a spirit filled service and well attended by ministers and God’s people. An out of town preacher/ prayer warrior took the center stage and divided the word unadulterated. Of interest, the undersherpherd introduced a couple, one a Christian and the other a Muslim. They attended the service and from the look of things, they are happy belonging together. I do not know the couples but believe there must be something that has kept them together as a happy couple. I pondered in my heart: a Christian married to a Muslim and they live happily? You’re kidding me! Are they equally yoked? While Muslim doctrines regard non-Muslim as an infidel Apostle Paul warns Christians, “Do not be yoked with unbelievers” [2 Corinthians 6:14]. Is it something worth our concern, at a time many marriages are failing? Some who are existing live lonely together [as co-tenant], fighting their way to survival. Others have betrayed their mates and in disappointment and retaliation, resulted to murder cases that become headlines in the news media, we read and wonder.
That reminds me of the article I read in TODAY [The Family Altar] of Wednesday, May 21, 2008. The first paragraph read, “Years ago when talking to a Christian who had married to a non-Christian, I asked, “Is it difficult to be a Christian when you are married to a non-Christian?” Her answer has stayed with me throughout my ministry. She said, “It almost impossible. We are totally different tracks. When I want to go to Church, he has other plans for us. When I try to do my devotions, he walks away.” Should this be a cross board experience? Recently, about two months ago, in a company of a close couple, I walk into a Christian woman who was married to a Muslim. I asked her how about your husband? She replied we no longer lived together; I have filed my divorce papers. How long did you marry? She answered six months. Why did you marry a Muslim in the first place? She said I thought he loved me. I asked again, what was it like marrying a Muslim? I quickly observed that her mood changed and her face turned bloody; perhaps trying to recall the agonies of the failed union. She showed us part of her face and arm where she suffered bruises because of abuses resulting in incompatibility and attempting conversion into Muslim and forced to live a Muslim lifestyle. Could an infidel live happily with an unbeliever?
Experiences have shown that most of such union neither work nor end well. Care about scriptural injunction against unequally yoking? Here are some outlines that could make marriages workable. Both couples must hold some belief: in one God or in cultural gods of Satan. Their belief gives them the inner source of joy in the midst of life’s challenges; guide their attitudes and actions towards each other and other people. They must love for it covers everything and have the commitment to make their marriage work, their differences not withstanding. The couples should have mutual respect for each other and observe equal limits and boundaries. They allow each person become as much masculine or feminine as one is made to be. They should work as companion and not competitor; make each the priority of the other as well as the mirror. Couples must create quality time for themselves and maintain openness in communication and in finances; must resist the temptation of keeping secrets from each other but attempt doing things together. Finally they must compliment and show affection to each other as well as grow from just being a couple into best friends. These qualities could help couples overcome barriers created by other inhibitions such as: race, religion, class and past ugly experiences. Make it work for you and you will enjoy belonging together. Welcome to the season of favor and good tidings.
Reach: Evangelist Ogbonnaya, Godswill at: weefreeministires@yahoo.com or P. O. Box 720035, Houston, Texas, 77272.