FALLING IN LOVE

        Sandra and Kwabena are falling in love. Sandra is in her early 21, and Kwabena is in his first year at the university. They met at a restaurant where Sandra liked to hang out with her friends. Kwabena worked there during vacations, waiting on tables. Sometimes Kwabena would serve Sandra and her friends, and when he wasn't too busy; he'd hang around their table and joke around. One Friday night, he told Sandra that he had Saturday night off, and he wondered if she'd like to go see a movie with him. That sounded good to her, and they had a great time. After several hanging around, they're starting falling in love.

      There's just one problem. Sandra grew up in a family that takes faith very seriously, but not Kwabena. He has little interest in going to church, and he has no strong beliefs. When Sandra's parents ask why she's dating someone who's not a committed Christian, she replies, "We're just dating. It's not like we're getting married or something. And besides, even if we would get married, I think that for a marriage to be a happy one is more important than having the same religion." Sandra still believes most of what her parents and her brother believe—she believes that God exists and that Jesus is his Son—but she's not about to let her family's Christianity ruin her love life or keep her from happiness. Sandra loves Kwabena. He's good-looking, he's smart, he's funny—and Sandra can't imagine meeting someone who's more right for her.

      Let's look now at decisions on whom to date and whom to marry. A girl may think it's okay to fall in love with a boy even though she claims to be a Christian, and he's not interested. But what does God say?

 In the Bible he says, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 6:14). He says that a Christian woman is "free to marry anyone she chooses, but he must belong to the Lord" (1 Corinthians 7:39). In Malachi chapter 2, the Bible says that some of God's people broke faith and did something detestable. What had they done? They had married persons who worshiped other gods, who didn't have a commitment to the one true God. This breaking of faith was so serious that the prophet Malachi said, "May the Lord cut off from his people those who choose such marriages, even if they try to keep being religious by bringing offerings to God." God prohibits marriage outside the faith, and that means you shouldn't even be dating outside the faith. After all, if you can't say no to the offer of a date with a non-Christian, how are you going to break it off once you're deeply in love? God wants you to be one in body and also one in spirit with the person you marry. If you serve Jesus, how can you ever be one in spirit with someone who ignores Jesus? It's a question of loyalty.

If you claim to be a Christian, but you marry a person from another religion, or you marry a person who has a church background but whose faith means very little, you're taking a giant step away from Jesus Christ. You may think you'll win the person over to Christ, but far more often, it works the other way. God becomes less and less important to you. You're under constant pressure to put the will of your husband or wife ahead of God's will. 

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