Be Wise! WHEN YOU CHOOSE YOUR SPOUSE, YOU CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE. Ezra 10:2.

While living in exile, many of Israel’s men married the women of Babylon. They had been told not to marry foreign (non-Jewish) women, but they did not obey. Ezra led the people in prayers of repentance—and Ezra took this sin personally. He was innocent—that is, Ezra did not marry outside the faith. But because so many of his Hebrew brothers did, Ezra considered himself guilty along with them:

“We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the surrounding peoples” Ezra 10:2. 

This is another example of “CORPORATE SIN.” Corporate Sin may be best typified by the words of Isaiah when he sees a vision of the Lord and realizes the stain of sin that he carries: “Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips,” Isaiah 6:5.

We are touched by the lives around us. When God cleanses the heart of a believer, He sees him as holy. But we live in community. Our lives touch those around us. We influence our families, our colleagues, our teammates, members of our church and other organizations. We have an influence on others—and they have an influence on us. And the most critical influence of all may be your spouse.  The person you marry will have the power to lift you up—and your children with you—or to drag the family down. God takes that decision seriously. I once believed God had a single perfect match picked out for each person. My view is more open now: God’s grace is huge and He can bless any godly marriage.  But He strongly recommends against marrying a non-believer.

Walking with Christ is hard enough for two devout Christians. Don’t be the Christian who marries outside the faith, or who marries someone whose faith is so weak, he or she cannot articulate when He met the Lord. Such nominal Christians are often simply lost people with a more-or-less receptive attitude toward the church.  When you become parents together, “more-or-less” will not be good enough. You need a solid, reliable, Spirit-filled believer walking beside you.

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what part have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14.

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