I was having an unplanned chat with a friend who's studying in US. And the topic somehow evolved to this - being "unequally yoked". The bible is pretty clear on this, and I don't intend to launch into a theological essay on why one should not be unequally yoked, and what the bible says about this. It's easy to tell someone who's a believer, to not date a pre-believer. What if, the person started dating this person before he/she became a christian? And therefore now, the partner is a pre-believer?

That precisely was the concern in the conversation. The bible is clear yes. But does it mean he breaks up with her because he is now a Christian but she is not? Six years. That's a very long time. Feelings are strong. It's a struggle for both sides. For the guy - should he give up on the relationship because one should not be unequally yoked? Doesn't that mean he's giving up on her salvation? For the girl - when I dated this guy, we shared the same religion. Now suddenly he's of another faith. How can I accept this and where do I go from here?

There are no easy answers. I told him to pray, and ask God for wisdom and for God to speak to His heart on this. I shared a few testimonies from people I know, which I will briefly mention here:

1) Both were pre-believers. The guy found God, accepted Christ. The girl struggled for awhile, tried to visit church. He struggled with what to do. Eventually after some time, the girl received Christ. They should be planning their wedding soon.

2) Both were pre-believers. The girl found God, and was convicted that she shouldn't be unequally yoked. Broke up with the guy. The guy was heart-broken. Some time later, he found God through another friend. Accepted Christ. Through a twist of fate, he met the girl again. They eventually got back together and are now married.

These are happy stories, but there are also those that go the other way.... the boy is a believer, the girl is not. The guy broke up with the girl. On her own, the girl found God, and is now a believer, but they never got back together.

Moral of the story? God works in miraculous ways. We cannot foretell what the ending of the story will be. We can only trust Him. All I know is this. One man can never be another man's saviour. The believing partner cannot save the pre-believing one. Only Jesus can.

I feel that the story below summarises God's heart for us very well. And this was what I shared with my friend as well. Will we hold on to our plastic pearls? Or trade them for the genuine ones that the Father longs to give to us?