I am conscious after last week when Mick was sick and had to stay home from church, how hard is for those whose marriage partners are not believers. If your spouse is not a believer and you are, what can you do? These ideas are based on an article I read last year in Footprints magazine contributed by someone who is married to a non believer and some of my own ideas.
Pray
The first and best thing you can do is pray. You may not be able to change your spouse and convince them to believe but God can. God is in the business of doing the impossible.. You may think their heart is too closed to the message and they think they are independent and don’t need God. But it is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict and change hearts. Your prayers will certainly help. More changes are made by prayer than any other way.
Become involved in your spouse’s interests.
Become involved in your spouse’s interests. Find other Christians who share those interests. Often we may not be the one God will choose to use to have an impact on our loved one. Instead it may be a friend, who will have the privilege of being able to talk to them and explain the gospel to them as they build up a friendship based on similar interests.
Don’t badger them to come to church with you.
Don’t badger them to come to church with you. Often the harder we push the more our loved one will resist. However you can pray God will make them willing to want to come. When your church has other social occasions invite your spouse and tell him or him how great it would be if they would come and how much it would mean to you. If there are people at your church who have similar interest, then introduce them to your spouse. The main thing is don’t pressure them or lay a guilt trip on them.
Join me next time for some more suggestions about being married to a non believer.
Related articles
Does it Matter if You Don’t Go to Church and Worship Together?
Are Your Core Values the Same?
Secrets of Long Lasting Marriages
Keeping the Happily Ever After
Is There Such a Thing as a No Fault Divorce?