Unequally yoked

"Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?"                  2 Corinthians 6:14 (NLT)

"For the believing wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the believing husband brings holiness to his marriage." 
                                  1 Corinthians 7:14 (NLT)

I have been thinking a lot about the concept of being "unequally yoked" in marriage with a non-believer. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and he is a great man, but there are also a lot of challenges in being married to someone who doesn't share my faith. I don't regret marrying my husband, because if I hadn't, my children would not be here, and I honestly have no idea what my life would look like. 

One of the main challenges of being married to a non-believer has been that we view things from opposite perspectives sometimes. I see things from a "God Perspective" and he sees things from a "World Perspective" and the two are not always in agreement. One example: I want to tithe 10% of my income back to God as the Bible says to do. I feel it's a matter of obedience and I feel very guilty about not tithing. From his viewpoint, God doesn't need the money and it's basically the Church's way of making money off people. I feel conflicted because the Bible also says that I am to obey my husband, and I know him well enough to say that if I give the church 10% of a months income, we would have a big fight on our hands, however I have to also consider if my obedience to God is more important than any fight my husband and I would end up having.

"So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer." 
                                         Ezra 8:23 (NLT)
Another challenge is not being able to go to God together when life gets tough. My instinct says to pray and seek God, and he has to look at all the angles from his "World Perspective," using logic as he knows it. This is not always a problem, because it will usually work out in the end, but just to be able to pray and seek God together with him would be so much better! 

"And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had."             
                                       Acts 2:44 (NLT)
I also struggle with the fact that my husband is somewhat jealous of my time. He is okay with me going to church on Saturday or Sunday, but he doesn't like it when I start to spend more time than the hour or so for church, and the time I spend serving on Church Online, to fellowship with other believers. He also does not come with me to church. He is okay with me taking our kids to church, which is a big bonus, and I am grateful for it. He always complains that he feels ignored or neglected when I spend more time on "church" than I do on him. It's tough to find that balance, and a lot of the time I just don't do a lot of church activities other than one experience per week and my serving on Fridays at 10 pm. However, for me to actually grow in my faith and my walk with Christ, I crave the fellowship of other believers! It's like trying to live on Bread and water, versus actually getting fed good nutritious food. I will still grow with the bread and water, but I won't thrive! 

"But if you refuse to serve the lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the lord." 
                                       Joshua 24:15 (NLT)
Like I said previously, I don't regret marrying my husband. We have some challenges to overcome. My main challenge is to learn to live my life in a way that honors God, to draw closer to Him and to set an example for my kids to follow. I believe that God will work on my husband and I will continue to pray for him, but I have to take a stand on what is more important to me, and what is important to God.