WHAT BEING “EQUALLY YOKED” DOES AND DOES NOT MEAN
2 Corinthians 6:14 says…
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?”
As seen in the picture above, a yoke is a wooden bar that joins two animals together for work such as pulling a plow or cart. The problem is that if an ox and a donkey are yoked together, they will struggle because they are fundamentally different creatures, which leads to strain, disorder, and frustration.
Fun Fact: Deuteronomy 22:10 forbids yoking an ox and a donkey together, likely for this very reason. (side note: God cares how you treat your animals, which reveals his heart, character, and how kind/benevolent He is)
So what does this mean for Christians who are looking towards marriage:
It would be wrong to covenant with, or yoke yourself to, an unbeliever. This is not a harsh rule that God imposes but a principle given for your good, to spare you from a lifetime of strife and pain. Just as an ox and a donkey are two completely different creatures, a believer and an unbeliever have two completely different natures.
What this doesn’t mean for Christians who are looking towards marriage:
What this doesn’t mean is that the other person must be at a certain level of spiritual maturity in order for you to consider marrying them. This is how 2 Corinthians 6:14 is most commonly understood and applied – but that is incorrect.
Although being at different “levels” (yuck that’s a gross way to say it) of spiritual maturity may pose some practical problems for you and your significant other to work through, that is not what this verse is ultimately speaking to and addressing. This is about building your future marriage on the solid rock – the belief that Jesus is the way, truth, and the life and mutually establishing that truth as the bedrock & foundation of your marriage.
PS: Thanks for reading the article!!!! I pray it was a blessing to you! But the MOST important question is this: Do you know & follow Jesus personally???? Have you been “saved”??? Click the link below (FOLLOW JESUS TODAY) to read more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ!!!