In church my pastor was speaking of the need to have an equally yoked partner...I was wondering, how I would be able to tell if I am with a partner that is equally yoked? Does this refer to our religious belief being similar?
If you are with this (equally yoked) person, do you stand a better chance of succeeding in a healthy relationship?
2007-04-02 19:56:20 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
If you have the same religion. Its best if you both go to the same church while you are dating and then the pastor there can marry you two. Your religions cant just be similar but the same. You will take on whatever your husband choses. And it will be wonderful for you both to agree already. Because you will both be following the same commandments together under the same God. Now that is awesome! If you are a Christian and he is muslim dont do it. Its not the same God! Even you pastor can tell you that. You either believe in the bible or not, in God of Jacob or not. Its ridiculous to chose a man over God..... God is first.
2007-04-02 20:07:43 · answer #1 · answered by Ms DeeAnn 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
When you are evenly yoked you have the same calling and mission field. Also, you are both on the same level spiritually. For example, if God calls you to ministry in South America working with children, then your husband should have the same calling. If you are called by God to go here, and your husband is called to go somewhere else. That would be unproductive and put a strain on your marriage. Or, if you are a mature Christian and you meet a believer who just got saved. If you two are called to pastor a church there will be conflict because of his immaturity. I remember there was a pastor who was very successful. He was in his fifties and he met a young woman in her twenties. He said he wanted to marry her because she was young and beautiful. She wanted to marry him because of his financial status. Well they got married, but she ended up leaving because she could not handle the pressure of being a pastor' wife. Now his ministry is hindered. They were unevenly yoked.
2007-04-03 03:33:51 · answer #2 · answered by super saiyan 3 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I hear this Bible verse used to condemn so-called "mixed marriages" all the time, and it steams me every time. Like the use of a few verses from Leviticus to condemn homosexuality, this allegedly divinely inspired verse gets used to justify a very human xenophobia and religious intolerance.
First of all - I object to the comparison of a married couple to a yoked team of oxen. I am not a work ox and neither is my beloved husband, and I defy ANYONE to reduce my spouse to the level of a work animal, EVER, because I will definitely have something to say about it.
Secondly, I'm an atheist and my husband is an observant Catholic, and we have exactly NO issues on the subject of religion whatsoever. He knows he's free to pray and go to church and observe all the religious ritual he wants with my full support, and he never pressures me to observe any of the same traditions. I even cook fish for him on Fridays during Lent.
I came from a very fundamentalist Catholic family who forever shoved religious submission down my throat, so I can be pretty touchy on the subject - yet my husband NEVER ruffles my feathers when it comes to religious observance.
All of my husband's brothers and sisters are married to fellow Catholics - and oddly enough, my husband and I have the most harmonious marriage of anyone in the family. I don't need some deity telling me it's my duty to love my husband for me to want to treat him well - I treat him well because I want him to know I love him and care for him.
Besides, similarity of religion is no guarantee that a marriage will be a success. I don't know how many times I've heard married Christian and Catholic couples say "Marriage is hard enough as it is without adding differences of religion to it! We're both the same religion, and we STILL argue all the time!"
2007-04-03 03:37:30 · answer #3 · answered by Guernica 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many of the suggestions about personal relationships in the bible came from historical times when the Jews were in captivity in another country and under political rule from others.
Many of these suggestions/restrictions came from a desire (by the Jewish political and religious leaders of THAT time) to keep the bloodlines pure and to keep a 'national awareness'.
In modern times, as we realize more and more the need to consider ALL people equal and equally loved by God, the emphasis SHOULD be on religious tolerance instead.
There is only ONE God, and everyone and everything was created by this almighty, all-present and eternal force.
The same God who loves you also loves Hindus, Muslims, and believers in all these other 'faiths', and is equally tolerant of our human delusion of 'being better than'.
It is true that if you don't have conflicts between each other's faiths, you stand a chance of having a few less arguments. There's always other things to argue about - all of them based on needless ego addictions.
The only 'healthy' relationship is one that is based on the principle of 'unconditional love' - which could be translated as 'live and let live'.
The more restrictions you subscribe to and the more restrictions your partner subscibes to, the more potential 'battlefields' you create in your relationship.
Yes, the 'equally yoked' slogan refers to religious beliefs being similar.
Yet, ALL religious beliefs are simply human opinions - NOT the mind of God which nobody could comprehend anyway.
Set good boundaries in your relationships - including your religious beliefs as long as you have them. Respect yourself and your partner. Insist on human logical boundaries, set by your OWN feelings, thoughts and perceptions, and keep an open mind towards change (positive change).
There is no substitute for dealing with relationships in this way, and religion does NOT guarantee happiness in a relationship.
Relationship is a dance. You each need to know your steps and be able to dance them independently before you can dance successfully with a partner.
2007-04-03 03:22:22 · answer #4 · answered by flywho 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
For a more modern translation, the NIV states that verse as "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]
It's really hard to stay mad at the person that is praying beside you, and is praying for you.
Yes, I think you have a better chance of succeeding when you think alike. If you don't then it a few years it will bother you more than you can imagine.
2007-04-03 03:05:04 · answer #5 · answered by Silly Girl 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You will know. God will bring you together. If there is lust involved mixed with sin, it is not from God. Equally yoked means you are both believers and saved. This is a great way to start a marriage. I am in a marriage where we are both born again (saved) and follow the same beliefs.
2007-04-03 03:09:37 · answer #6 · answered by Dakota Lynn Takes Gun 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes and yes. Unequally yoked means that you are members of different faiths. While it is not necessarily a problem, it will certainly help your relationship if you are married to a person with a similar religious outlook.
2007-04-03 03:01:47 · answer #7 · answered by NONAME 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
"Yoked"? Is my partner a milkmaid?
Your pastor sounds a bit weird to me. If he means a partner who's as committed as you are, why use all these weird expressions? Why not just say "committed"?
2007-04-03 03:01:27 · answer #8 · answered by Wild About Harry 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
that doesn't sound very healthy if you ask me?
2007-04-03 02:59:05 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
He will moo at you.
2007-04-03 03:00:27 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋