Who You Walk With

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" 2 Corinthians 6:14 (KJV).

"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness?" 2 Corinthians 6:14 (Amplified).

This is an explanation of what I mean: love with wisdom. It touches on something I have talked about before, how we walk in faith in the world of sin. There are some basic concepts concerning faith that many do not understand, mainly because many struggle with a full understanding of what love really is.

First there needs to be some definitions.

Yoked: (singular) formal: a situation or an experience that limits someone's freedom or actions. The forced need to operate together in purpose and effort. Righteousness: (noun): the quality or state of being just or rightful: alternate: rightwise. Tolerance: (a) a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own. (b) interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc., foreign to one's own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.

A profound eye-opener in many ways, is it not?

We can already begin to see why God says not to be unequally yoked. To do so engenders (gives birth to) a tolerance to sin, and to a state of unrighteousness. The above passage from the Word Of God deals directly with this by asking the question of how goodness and sin can reconcile. I am talking about the overall concept, and what it does to our relationship with God, and you as a person of faith, should have SOME understanding what things are not of God.

This brings s to what I have talked about before, God does not tolerate ANY sin. The reason is clear when you read the definition of tolerance and yoked. The only yoke that God, and Jesus Christ, accept and offer is the yoke of God.

"For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:30 (KJV).

Why is this so? Because the yoke of God (or Jesus Christ) does not have an aspect for the tolerance of sin, or the character of unrighteousness. Sin, as noted before, is separation with God. We are striving to be closer to God. So the yoke of God is crafted to draw us to Him, and with Him.

So must our walk with others reflect this aspect when we are yoked together. This does not mean that you, and the person you have a relationship with (any relationship), need to be in complete agreement. You are yoking to the intent and purpose in life that you both are pursuing.

What do I mean here?

Let's say that you are an athlete, and the goal is to be a good basketball player. Everyone on the time has the same purpose: to win basketball games. So every effort, all practice and training, is geared to that purpose. So in essense you would be yoked together to achieve that goal. But that does not speak to the personal lives of the players. It does not matter that some believe in God, some do not, some are extroverts, and some are not, etc. If does not affect the yoke (of winning games) it is not important to that yoke.

Same with faith, and our yoke of righteousness. But if someone is doing that which DOES affect that yoke, and you do nothing about it, you will fail. You will fail as a team, and as individuals as well. We, as people of faith, seek to walk in that faith. Our yoke with God, under Christ, is all about that walk of faith. We have a goal in mind, to gain heaven and adoption. That is the meaning of the Prodigal Son journey.

So it is the purpose of that yoke to help us do that very thing, and anything that corrupts or stops that from happening IS being yoked to unrighteousness and sin. But there needs to be a deeper understanding here as well. I spoke to "this does not mean that you, and the person you have a relationship with (any relationship), need to be in complete agreement. You are yoking to the intent and purpose in life that you both are pursuing." And that is very important to understand.

If you have deep biblical knowledge, and your spouse does not, are you unequally yoked? If you don't pray as often as you, should but are desiring to, but your spouse does that well, are you unequally yoked? You are counciling someone about drug abuse, but you don't use drugs, are you unequally yoked?

In a word NO, as you yoke to the solution, which is God, and not the problem. In other words, unless who you are with, and what they are, is the antithesis (opposite and against) to your Walk Of Faith, then you are fine. Otherwise how could you help someone who needs help in an area you are strong in, and they are struggling in?

Jesus Christ spoke to the sinners of the world, publicans, the pharisees, etc., without yoking His life to their sin. Nicodemus was a Pharisee that became saved, and these were the men that Christ (and John the Baptist in Matthew 3:7) called a "brood of vipers!"

But Jesus Christ's yoke was(is) to God, and all who want(ed) to follow Him partook of that yoke. So we today must yoke ourselves under Christ's yoke, when concerning those things of faith. And anything that corrupts the purpose and integrity of that yoke, must be eliminated from our lives.

This does not change our love for the person(s) that this may affect, but it does affect our relationship and interactions with them. If it is those who do not speak into our lives, then it is a moot point. But if it is those we allow into our hearts, and things we do, then this speaks DIRECTLY to that.

So how does tolerance apply here? As we see by the definition:

"Tolerance: (a) a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own. (b) interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc., foreign to one's own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint."

We must understand that tolerance for things not of God separate us from God. Sin is that separation, and when we tolerate sin in our lives, by us or others, then we are tolerating that separation that sin brings. As a person of faith that is death. Death of our testimony, death of our inheritance, and just plain death.

Is that what your desire for your life?

Be blessed, be loved and be at peace. May the light of God's glory and presence fire the brilliance of your souls. You are greatly loved.