There are clear Scripture warnings you and I need to take heed to, yes, very sober warnings to help guard us.
“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?”
— 2 Corinthians 6:14 (NKJV)
I often see people who have suffered from bad choices. I regularly meet sincere believers who are deeply discouraged in marriage—not because they lack commitment, but because their spouse does not share their faith in Christ. When I gently ask how they arrived there, the answer is often the same: “He told me he was a Christian when we got married.”
But Scripture urges us to look beyond words. Faith is not merely professed; it is demonstrated. Jesus Himself said, “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Calling oneself a Christian does not make it so. A living faith bears visible evidence—repentance, humility, obedience, and love for Christ. Blog 1 on this (Click).
This is precisely why God gives such a clear and loving warning to single believers. The command in 2 Corinthians 6:14 is not restrictive—it is protective. God asks a penetrating question:
“For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?”
Light and darkness don't mix. Light cast the other out, so do not try to grow in the same direction with children of darkness. You are a child of the day, right? Over time, one will prevail—and Scripture, experience, and history show that more often than not, the believer is pulled downward rather than the unbeliever being lifted upward.
Charles Spurgeon wisely warned, “If you wish to know the misery of compromise, read the history of Solomon.” What begins as affection can slowly become spiritual erosion.
The apostle Paul further explains the unique season and stewardship of singleness:
“An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him. But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. His interests are divided”
— 1 Corinthians 7:32–34 (NLT)
Paul is not diminishing marriage—he exalts it elsewhere. Rather, he is emphasizing reality. Marriage brings blessings, but it also brings rightful responsibilities. When you marry, your calling becomes shared, your time divided, and your decisions intertwined. You can still please the Lord—but with new limitations that singleness does not carry.
A.W. Tozer once observed, “Before the judgment seat of Christ, my service will be judged not by how much I did, but by how much I loved and obeyed.” Singleness offers a remarkable opportunity for undivided obedience to Jesus Christ. Serve Him well.
Research consistently reflects what Scripture has long taught. Studies from organizations such as Barna and the National Marriage Project have shown that couples who share a vibrant, practiced Christian faith report significantly higher marital satisfaction, lower divorce rates, and stronger unity in values and purpose than spiritually mismatched couples. Faith alignment is not a guarantee of ease—but spiritual mismatch often guarantees strain.
When you are single, you are mobile. You are flexible. In many ways, you are free. That freedom is not accidental—it is a gift. Use it wisely. Serve the Lord wholeheartedly. Grow deep roots in Christ. Invest in spiritual maturity. Seek wisdom, not urgency.
As Elisabeth Elliot famously said, “Wait patiently for the Lord. Don’t compromise for a lesser good.”
Pray earnestly—not just for the right person, but to know and walk in God's will. Yes, and for the right timing, the right discernment, and a heart that trusts God fully. The Lord is never late, never careless, and never unkind in His leading. What He asks you to wait for in Jesus is always worth the wait.
I. FACT. BELIEVERS WHO CHOSE THE WRONG CLOSE FRIENDS OR COMPANIONS PAY A HIGH PRICE
Make Christ your best friend. How can you be best friends with anyone whom you don't spend a lot of time with?
1. Samson – Intimacy Without Discernment
Text: Judges 14–16
Samson repeatedly yoked his heart to those who did not fear the Lord—Philistine women who ultimately betrayed him.
“Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.” (Judges 14:3)
Result: Loss of strength, calling, freedom, and vision.
“He did not know that the LORD had departed from him.” (Judges 16:20)
Principle: Emotional desire without spiritual alignment destroys spiritual power.
2. Rehoboam – Listening to Foolish Friends
Text: 1 Kings 12:6–16
Rehoboam rejected wise counsel and embraced peers who fed his pride.
“He forsook the counsel of the elders… and consulted the young men.” (1 Kings 12:8)
Result: The kingdom was divided.
“Where there is no guidance, a people falls.” (Proverbs 11:14)
3. Amnon – Corrupted by a Wicked Friend
Text: 2 Samuel 13
Jonadab gave Amnon clever but evil counsel, leading to sexual sin and death.
“Jonadab was a very crafty man.” (2 Samuel 13:3)
Result: Rape, murder, family destruction, national shame.
“Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)
4. Jehoshaphat – Unequal Alliances
Text: 2 Chronicles 18–20
A godly king who allied himself with wicked Ahab.
“Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?” (2 Chronicles 19:2)
Result: Near death and divine rebuke.
II. FACT. BELIEVERS UNEQUALLY YOKED IN MARRIAGE CAN LEARN TO PRAY HARD
5. Solomon – Love That Turned His Heart
Text: 1 Kings 11:1–8
Solomon loved many foreign women who drew his heart away from God.
“His wives turned away his heart.” (1 Kings 11:3)
Result: Idolatry, divided heart, judgment on the kingdom.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)
6. Ahab – Married to Jezebel
Text: 1 Kings 16–21
Ahab was weak; Jezebel was openly evil and spiritually aggressive.
“Jezebel his wife incited him.” (1 Kings 21:25)
Result: National idolatry, persecution of prophets, divine judgment.
“Evil companionships deform good morals.” — Clement of Alexandria
7. Jehoram (Son of Jehoshaphat) – Corrupted Through Marriage
Text: 2 Kings 8:16–19
He married Ahab’s daughter and adopted Ahab’s ways.
“He walked in the way of the kings of Israel.” (2 Kings 8:18)
Result: Spiritual collapse, family slaughter, painful death.
8. Ezra & Nehemiah’s Generation – Marriages That Diluted Faith
Text: Ezra 9–10; Nehemiah 13:23–27
“The holy seed has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands.” (Ezra 9:2)
Result: Loss of biblical language, diluted worship, generational compromise.
“Their children could not speak the language of Judah.” (Nehemiah 13:24)
III. FACT. BELIEVERS AFFECTED BY UNGODLY ASSOCIATES EASILY GET PULLED DOWNWARD
9. Lot – Righteous, Yet Poorly Positioned
Text: Genesis 13; 19
“Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan.” (Genesis 13:11)
Though righteous (2 Peter 2:7–8), Lot surrounded himself with corruption.
Result: Loss of family, moral confusion, generational damage.
10. Peter – Fearful of the Wrong Crowd
Text: Galatians 2:11–14
“Peter drew back and separated himself.” (Galatians 2:12)
Result: Hypocrisy that misled others.
“The fear of man lays a snare.” (Proverbs 29:25)
IV. NEED SOME CORE SCRIPTURES ON UNEQUAL YOKING?
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.”
(2 Corinthians 6:14)
“Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3)
“He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20)
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” (Galatians 5:9)
V. TAKE HEED, DON'T JUST KNOW WHATS SO
“Show me your friends, and I will show you your future.”
— John Maxwell
“If you choose the wrong companions, you will live the wrong life.”
— A.W. Tozer
“Marriage either draws you closer to God or slowly pulls you away.”
— Tim Keller
“Compromise always begins in the heart before it ever shows in behavior.”
— Charles Spurgeon
“The first step to apostasy is rarely doctrinal—it is relational.”
— Francis Schaeffer
VI. IS THERE REDEMPTIVE BALANCE FOR YOU - YES
Scripture does not teach isolation, but discernment.
“I wrote to you not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of this world.” (1 Corinthians 5:9–10)
Jesus ate with sinners, but never yoked His direction to them.
SCOME ALIVE AND WALK ALIVE IN CHRIST WITH NO SPIRITUAL COMPROMISE.
God may redeem the unequally yoked, but He never recommends the yoke.
Every biblical example shows that when hearts are joined without shared reverence for God, the stronger spirit must pull the weaker—or the weaker will slowly reshape the stronger.
“Who’s Pulling the Yoke You Are In?”
“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.”
— 2 Corinthians 6:14
I God only wisely warns us in love.
God is not some kill-joy. He never warns us because He wants to restrict us — He warns us because He loves us.
A yoke determines direction, pace, and destination. If you yoke your life to the wrong person, the wrong voice, or the wrong influence, you may still love God — but you will be pulled away from His will.
“Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3)
POINT 1 — WRONG RELATIONSHIPS DULL SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT
Samson loved God’s calling but ignored God’s wisdom.
“She is right in my eyes.” (Judges 14:3)
Desire replaced discernment.
At the end, the most tragic verse:
“He did not know that the LORD had departed from him.” (Judges 16:20)
Truth: You don’t lose God overnight — you drift relationally first.
“Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)
POINT 2 — UNEQUAL YOKES CAN STEER EVEN GODLY PEOPLE OFF-COURSE
Solomon loved the Lord — and loved the wrong women.
“His wives turned away his heart.” (1 Kings 11:3)
Not his theology — his attachments ruined him.
“The heart is led long before the feet follow.”
— Charles Spurgeon
POINT 3 — CLOSE UNGODLY FRIENDS CAN PULL DOWN, AND EVEN DIVIDE WHAT GOD BUILDS
Rehoboam listened to the wrong voices.
“He forsook the counsel of the elders.” (1 Kings 12:8)
One bad circle split a kingdom.
“He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20)
You don’t need enemies when you have unwise friends.
POINT 4 — GODLY PEOPLE SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME WITH SINNERS CAN BE DAMAGED BY THIS UNGODLY PROXIMITY
Jesus was and is the friend of sinners.. and yet He didn't sin.
Lot was righteous — but badly positioned. HE LONGED FOR THAT LOCATION SODOM
“Lot chose for himself…” (Genesis 13:11)
Righteous heart. Wrong neighborhood.
The cost?
• Loss of family
• Moral confusion
• Generational damage
“Righteousness without wisdom still bleeds.”
— A.W. Tozer (paraphrased)
POINT 5 — GOD DOES NOT CALL US TO ISOLATION, WHICH LEADS TO MORE WEIRDNESS, BUT TO HIMSELF AND HIS PURPOSE
Jesus ate with and showed love to sinners — He was never led by them.
“I do not ask that You take them out of the world.” (John 17:15)
We are called to influence, not entanglement.
“Marriage, friendship, and counsel either pull you closer to Christ — or quietly away.”
— Tim Keller
God may redeem an unequal yoke —
but He never recommends one.
Ask yourself:
• Who has my ear?
• Who has my heart?
• Who shapes my thinking when life gets hard?
“Above all else, guard your heart.” (Proverbs 4:23)
Because the yoke you choose today
determines the road you walk tomorrow and your final destiny.
Choose Christ as your Lord right now.
Choose relationships that pull you toward..in Christ — not away from Him.
