Many of us have experienced it, the first time you meet that other person who gives your stomach fifteen thousand butterflies, they’re just so nice to chat with, but there’s only one catch … they’re not a Christian. So what now? Here are a few things to consider:
We are not mainly in relationships to change people – it is not our privilege. If you are in a relationship with the hopes to change the other person, the paw-paw will inevitably hit the fan. As someone who loves Jesus, their relationship with God should be more important to me than their relationship with me.
Talking about their relationship with God, what about yours? Someone who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus does not live in the same way as you do. One of you will have to give up aspects of themselves to make the relationship work. What will we have to give up to make the relationship work? And are we going to surrender parts of our relationship with God? Then, of course, it’s bad for us to be in a relationship like this..
In 2 Corinthians 6:14 the Bible says:
You are not the same as those who do not believe. So do not join yourselves to them. Good and bad do not belong together. Light and darkness cannot share together.
The verse definitely does not mean that we should not be friends with others who do not have a relationship with Jesus. It rather gives us an idea that we should not have an unequal relationship with others whose lives are not focused on God. Because at the end of the day, as soon as there is a bit of imbalance in your relationship with others, one person often begins to pull the other one in a single direction.
There cannot be a partnership between light and darkness. The good things of God and the things He wants to keep us from, cannot work together toward one goal in the end. We just need to understand that these kinds of relationships often end up with two people who aim at completely different things. And sometimes, even if it hurts a little, it’s better that we fully aim for God. How amazing would it be to be in a relationship where two people aim for God and encourage each other to go in the same direction?
