Daily Devotion with Pastor Tong Liu: Today's Passage

1 Corinthians 7:8-19

...To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband...

Paul specifically mentioned here that Christians cannot divorce at will. By in those days, some who accepted the Lord might have despised the spouses who were still non-believers, and had conflicts with them for reasons of ideology or offering. Therefore, they wanted to divorce their spouses using the reason of faith, but that is not God's will at all. If the non-believing spouses wanted to leave, they should be allowed to go, but to Christians we should uphold God's principle and never forsake others even though we might be forsaken. So, what should we do when we face our non-believer spouses after we accept the Lord? The Bible clearly teaches us that we first need to follow conventional rule and continue to cohabit with them and love them. On the other hand, we need to pray for them and ask the Spirit of God to touch them.

I've once heard a testimony from a sister who prayed for her non-believing husband for 33 years before he turned back to the Lord. 33 years is a long time from human perspective, but nothing is impossible in God! God's zeal will ultimately accomplish it. When your better halves are non-believers, do not push them, but rather look upon God in prayer and bear good testimony in life. When our lives bear good testimonies, they cannot help but to accept Jesus Christ. May the Spirit of the Lord help us to live out the form of Christ in our daily life. Let the non-believing spouses feel the reality of God's presence from our respect for them so that their hearts will be touched and changed.

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, you are full of grace, and I ask that you have mercy on all the married couples. Keep our hearts and minds, and do not allow the enemy to take away our marriage. We want to bring our non-believing spouses before you through prayer, and we ask that your will be done on them. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!