Yoked - What does it mean when Christians say "you have to be equally yoked" to your partner.?

What does it mean when Christians say "you have to be equally yoked" to your partner.?

I am not a Christian, but if I were.. how would I know if I were equally yoked. Is there a checklist or something

Public Comments

It's specifically referring to believers being yoked to believers.

It is when a believer is married to a non-believer that it is unequally yoked. The same concept can be applied to most any relationship you have with others, as a caution, but it's specific to marriage.

Blessings.
it means an RCC should not marry an LDS, or a JW or a non-believer.
Ok I'll attempt to explain this

Basically lets see

Partner A is a Christian

Partner B is a Muslim

They will disagree horribly on serious issues and the relationship won't last.

If Partner A is Christian

and Partner B is Christian

chances are there'll be fewer conflicts
It means you both have to be Christians, and presumably equally committed.
there is no check list. however, finding someone who is at the same level in life as you is a good start.
that you both have to carry the same load... work together as a team, share responsibility, carry the same burden.

another example is "you have the same row to hoe"
Believers that choose to marry unbelievers will find trouble, because they will have two different sets of belief systems, ways of life, and desires in life.
IT MEANS, THIS IS THE PERSON YOU FEEL "GOD" HAS SENT TO YOU, YOUR SOUL MATE. YOU HAVE CHRIST IN COMMON.
It's for snobbish people who look down on others, and need to make sure they don't pair up with one of "those" people.
The phrase is "do not be unequally yoked". It means not to pal around with non-believers, or more strongly, don't be married to a non-believer. The idea is that if one were to marry a non-believer, the non-believer may convert you to his or her religion, or at the very least take you away from Christianity.

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That is a comparison being made about getting married....

basically marraige is about 'working together'....

So the analogy is that you wouldn't put a horse and a buffalo and hitch them together to pull a cart or something like a plow..

you have to match the animals together so they can work together ....

So in a similar way .... you have to match yourself with someone who is going to work with you in the same way....

therefore....

a Christian is counseled by Paul in the bible to NOT be 'yoked' with someone who is a non-chrisitian..... since the christian will obviously have certain different ideas of what to do and the non-christian will have their own ideas of what to do ....
It merely means to choose a life partner with the same belief's as you do as well as common interests and goals. A team of horses or oxen that is not equal in strength or temperament will be nothing but trouble in trying to perform it's tasks....so it is with people for a smoother and more peaceful relationship.
Scripture does not say that. In 2 Corinthians 6:14 it says, with regard to believers, ' ... do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?'
FIRST OF ALL, Christians dont say that, no one does. IF you're talking about the scripture "do not become unevenly yoked with your mate" thats a whole different meaning.

Case and point, do most professed Christians REALLY care what religion their mate is? nooope
In any partnership it is important to be of one mind on certain things. In business if you have one honest man and one who is fraudulent or dishonest then the honest man will probably get in just as much trouble as the other if something comes up later where the business that they are in together is charged with falsifying something or cheating on taxes.

I think in similar manners when it comes to marriage that an unbeliever will tend to have a different mind than a believer. Not necessarily pertaining to honesty but a whole approach to life. The scripture in question seems to point a believer in the direction of entering into partnership (whether a marriage or a business or any equal union) with other believers as opposed to nonbelievers.
Its not snobby. If you have something to be "snobby" about, you don't want an unequal partner riding up on your coat tails. You deserve someone who can contribute fairly.But I think Christians mean not to marry non-believers because it will cause problems.
Ok being equally yoked. Here goes. Ok you have to go back way back. If you take a donkey and a horse and put them together in one yoke. One pulls faster than the other causing both of them problems. The one doesn't want to slow down while the other doesn't want to speed up. They apparently not equal. A yoke is the device used to hold them together when plowing. Well it's just the same in marriage. God doesn't want us together with someone that is either A) Non-Christian or B) moving at a way slower pace. I am currently in and unyoked marriage and let me tell you I'm having so many problems it's not even funny. See my marriage is alright though because I didn't marry her when I was a believer. This is something that happened recently. It's been almost a year now that I have been going to church regularly and turned my life over to the lord. Well my wife on the other hand it taking alot slower approach. Things are starting to break with her but there is still the sores being wore by the yoke. If that's the way you want to put it. So yes being unequally yoked is not the best choice you could make.
What on earth is Emily talking about?

"FIRST OF ALL, Christians dont say that, no one does."

It is a very commonly-quoted verse and Christians take it very seriously.

"do most professed Christians REALLY care what religion their mate is? nooope".

Yes they do! It is the most important aspect of their relationship.

"IF you're talking about the scripture "do not become unevenly yoked with your mate" thats a whole different meaning. "

There is no such scripture. It would be a whole different meaning, but it just doesn't exist.
The Bible is the source of that quote - so it's not merely something Christians "say" or assert.

It's an analogy of marriage to a common activity in everyday life in Biblical times...plowing a field. Before there were tractors or modern farm equipment, trenches were dug in the ground by a couple of oxen pulling a metal plow. To ensure the job was done right, the oxen needed to be the same height, willingly pulling the same plow, and heading in the same direction. Otherwise, the trench would not be dug evenly, or would be crooked.

The same is true of marriage. Both partners, although perhaps different people, need to have some fundamental things in common to ensure a solid marriage. Being roughly the same height (in terms of maturity), under the same yoke (Christianity), heading in the same direction (both obedient to Christ), leads to soil that is prepared the proper way for a future harvest - joy in the marriage relationship.
Those who profess to desire to be people of God, not to marry pagans and cults (which veiled as Christians include those from the Roman Catholic, Jehovah witnesses, Mormons, Scientologists, Charismatics....)

The whole of OT even as Moses led the people of God out... were forbidden to marry the Canaanites etc....

In further application, not to go into business partnership...
It is a gross perversion of 2 Corinthians 6 created by legalism, interpreted by assumption, and affirmed by the popular consent.

The yoke of the unbeliever is bondage to the law.

The yoke of Christ is easy.

The yoke of the believer is freedom from bondage to the law.

God views the world black and white.

We are either an enemy of God or His child.

We are either unrighteous or righteous and the determining factor is the Blood of Christ...nothing else.

We are either in the light or in darkness.

We are either worshipers of the One True Living God or the worshipers of idols.

First, here is the passage....

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.' "

Now consider this from Galatians 5.

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

This was in response to our unhealthy desire to be in bondage expressed in Galatians 4 referenced below. This is the desire of those under the law. Think Moses. The people cried out. Why have you led us into the desert to die? We would rather be slaves in Egypt. Our sin nature desires bondage.

"But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?"

and

"Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?"

We are not children of the bondwoman. We are children of the free woman. In Paul's day the children of the bondwoman was Jerusalem. Today they are the legalists. The children of the bondwoman persecute the children of the freewoman. As it was then, so it is today.

So those under the unequal yoke are people who are saved but think like an unbeliever and desire to be entangled in bondage. It should not be so. This is the enemies cruelest deception...to hold believers in an unbelievers mindset. Tis stifles ministry and God's desire that we mingle with sinners to lead them to God just as Christ did.

Peter said this of the law and still fell into bondage and had to be rebuked by Paul.

"Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?"

Finally, let us consider the yoke of Christ.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Oh it is so good...rest for our souls. Let us never be entangled again and let us never think like an unbeliever. We are truly the children of God.

agapefromnc

PS - It is unwise for a Christian to marry an unbeliever but this is an entirely different topic based on different scripture completely removed from the spiritual principles of the "yoke". Additionally, we are told that if we are married to unbeliever and they desire to stay married we should not divorce them but rather live in the hope that they may be sanctified by us.The perversion of the yoke changes hope to anxiety in many marriages. This is not what God desires of our lives.