Unequally Yoked: Relationships

As teenagers, we can sometimes tend to fall for someone without thinking long term. We see examples of this all around us when girls fall for a guy, they start dating and then break up with each other a few days, weeks, and in few cases months later all because it didn't work out. If we were to really stop and look at this pattern of dating someone for such a short amount of time and then breaking up with them, we would see that most of the time, these people were not right for each other from the very beginning but because they started dating each other anyway, it became a bad cycle that did not end very well at all.

As Christians, hopefully we are not going around and dating a bunch of guys to find the right one. We need to be trusting that God will bring the right one along when the time is right. But there are some things we should and should not be doing as we wait for God to bring us that special someone. The main thing is that we don't need to be getting romantically involved with people that are not equally yoked, or not Christians themselves.

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" 2 Corinthians 6:14

When we attach ourselves to someone who does not have the same belief system, we are setting ourselves up for the relationship to eventually fail and for us to have a broken heart. Sometimes, even when we decide to get emotionally attached to someone, they are not the special person that God has chosen for us in our future. It is also very important to note that we are not supposed to completely forget about these people or decide not to be friends with them just because they don't believe the same thing you do. We are not to forget about these people, but are supposed to be there to befriend and support them. But there is a fine line that needs to be drawn here. We can be friends with unbelievers but nothing more.

When God does not want us to be romantically involved with unbelievers, this is not to punish us or take away our fun. Instead, God is trying to protect us from getting hurt and getting dragged down by them. Most often times when a Christian and an unbeliever start dating, what eventually starts happening is the more and more time they spend around each other, the more and more that the unbeliever starts dragging the Christian down. We need to be together with someone that will lift us up and help support us in our faith, not eventually drag us down.

You might be sitting there thinking, "Okay, this makes sense. But what if we start dating and then they will eventually become a Christian?" Although this is a nice thought, most of the time this is not the case. I'm not saying it's not possible, but more then likely this person will end up bringing you down, no matter how strong you are to begin with. This is where we need to trust that the person God will bring to us will not have to change their beliefs just to be in a relationship with us, but instead, will already have their beliefs set in stone by the time you are supposed to start dating them. We need to have trust in God that he will bring us someone who is way better then we could have ever imagined. Someone who will lift us up instead of drag us down. Someone who will not only respect your beliefs, but agree with them. :-)

"Do not be deceived: 'Bad company ruins good morals.'" 1 Corinthians 15:33

Good luck girls, I'll be praying for you all in the weeks to come. Can you believe that Christmas is almost here? 7 days until we celebrate the birth of our King! <3

Public School: Keeping Focused

When I first decided that I was going to go back into the high school, I knew that I needed to be completely sure of what my goals would be in going back to the high school, and that this was exactly what I was supposed to be doing. So I took some time praying about it to see God's opinion and have his hand in the process. When I felt that God was saying yes to be going back to the high school, I knew I had to keep a few very important things in mind. The first is that there is no way I can survive this on my own. I mean really, trying to survive in a public high school is kinda crazy! Without God in the picture, I knew I would fail. I also knew I not only needed to maintain a close relationship with God throughout my time at the high school, but he needed to be my main focus the entire time. Nothing could be placed before him or this was simply not going to work.

Well these goals started out fine in the beginning. The first few weeks of high school were great. I was focused. I kept God close to me by keeping him in my prayers, thoughts, and actions throughout every day. I kept a close relationship with him and as long as I did that, I did way more then survive at the high school. In fact, one could almost say that I thrived there. But then I started allowing other things to appear more important. Other things would take up my time, my thoughts, and my energy. Instead of spending time talking to God, I would be spending time worrying about an upcoming test or what someone would think about me if I did this or that. Well, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I was destined to start failing. And fail I sure did. I actually started coming to a point that I was no longer craving talking to God. I was getting so caught up in all these other worldly things that I was starting to no longer see the big picture. My view was becoming more and more limited. I started being more stressed out, not having as much fun, and snapping at my friends more. Things were not working.


“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." Matthew 6:24


"And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'" Matthew 22:37

So is we are supposed to love God with all of our heart, all of our mind, and all of our soul, then that means there is no room for anything else. Nothing should ever take God's place. Well the more time that I spent worrying and stressing or being occupied in other things that were not about God, the more that I started taking my eyes off of God and I started allowing my heart to stray away from God. This was exactly what I knew I could not do in the very beginning when I signed up for public school. I knew I needed to be completely focused on God. Not partially focused, but completely focused. So this was where I went wrong.

So here is my encouragement to you. Keep focused on what really matters in life. Instead of worrying about that big test you have next week, if you and your best friend are still going to be friends in the next 2 years, or if that cute guy is going to ask you to the winter dance, spend some time getting to know your creator. The more and more you get to know him, the less and less time you will spend worrying about these little things that don't matter. The results will be beautiful. :)

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10