Leaving your unbelieving spouse?

God's Word for the Unequally Yoked

1 Cor. 7:10-11
To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

--> It is not ok with God to leave my husband simply because he is not a believer. Separation should only be used as a beginning to restoration, not as a step toward divorce.

1 Cor. 7:12-14
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

--> "Sanctify" means set apart as holy; consecrate; to make free from sin. Sanctification frees us from he POWER of sin. Because of my relationship with Jesus Christ, God sees my husband as a part of me.

1 Cor. 7:15-16
But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

--> Part of loving someone is allowing them the space to make their own choices whether we agree with those choices or not. Should the unbelieving spouse choose to leave, we are not to chase them or beg them or plead with them. Just like Jesus allowed the rich young ruler to walk away when he wasn't willing to give up his possessions, we are to love our spouses enough to let them go. God is still at work.

1 Cor. 7:17,20
Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. ...Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

--> When I first got married, I was not a believer. In fact, I had blatantly walked away from God as a child when my own parents divorced. So, since I was married when I became a believer, I should remain in the same situation I was in when I was called.

1 Cor. 7:39
A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.

--> A marriage is a commitment not only between a man and a woman, but also between the individuals and God. A simple piece of paper might make it legal in our society, but God sees marriage as a union of hearts and it was not created to be broken.

1 Cor. 13:4-8, 13
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails...And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

--> As a believer loving an unbeliever, is my spouse seeing these traits in me? Do I love him like this? How can I expect for him to see Jesus in me if I'm not loving him like Jesus loves him?

Ephesians 5:1
Follow God's example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

--> Sacrificial love is not easy. It gives up its own preferences for the good of the other.

Ephesians 5:21
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 5:22-28
Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Ephesians 5:31
"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery-but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

--> A marriage relationship is to be God's representation of Christ and His church. Satan wants nothing more than to destroy the family, and he will go to great lengths to accomplish this.

More Verses -->