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Join our Philosophy forum to discuss religion and spirituality.

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Join our Philosophy forum to discuss religion and spirituality.

Philosophy/religion

Does God withhold blessings from Christians who are living in disobedience?

479 replies

Jewcy · 03/05/2013 18:00

I am a Christian but my husband is not. I am desperate to be a better person in God's eyes but can not escape the instruction in 2 Corinth ch 6 re being unequally yoked to non-believers. I am nearly 42 and desperately trying to start a family (I mc'd last year). We are due to fly to the Czech Republic in June for donor egg IVF but I can't help worrying that God will not bless me with a child whilst I continue to willfully live a disobedient life. I entered into a relationship with my husband knowing that it is not God's will for me to be with a non-Christian. Am I to be forever outside of God's will? My prayer life has become almost non-existent as I don't feel I can appeal to the Lord for his blessings re a baby and yet it is all I can think about.

I guess the real problem here is that my obsession with starting a family has superceded my devotion and surrender to God's will. Please help me

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Report

Jewcy · 04/05/2013 20:16

Oh, and Tree, as an aetheist, isn't it you who ought to be seeking another site?

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Jewcy · 04/05/2013 20:16

*atheist

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Spero · 04/05/2013 20:20

Jewcy - I sum up my belief system in the words of Robert Green ingersoll

'Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now and the way to be happy is to make others so'.

I don't know if there is a god or gods. I don't know who or what created us. All I know is that religion seems to cause a great deal of unhappiness for many people and a great deal of evil is done in gods name. So I don't have faith.

I used to wish I did because I head it made people feel happy and comforted. But I can see that isn't always the case.

If there is a god and he loves you, he won't punish you for acting out of love?

expatinscotland · 04/05/2013 20:22

'I thought that the aethiests/mockers/outraged would simply stay away and leave it to people who actually have a clue.'

That's the sad thing, people who think they have, and it makes them miserable.

Jewcy · 04/05/2013 20:30

Spero, thanks for your reply. I largely agree with you. However, I don't believe true happiness lies within ourselves. This belief comes from living the majority of my life abiding by my own rules and becoming increasingly unhappy with the choices I was making. I have caused much, much pain to others and to myself.

It's all about love at the end of the day, isn't it? For all of us.

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Jewcy · 04/05/2013 20:32

expat, when did I say I was miserable? I said it makes me sad when I know I am not living according to God's teaching. Aren't you sad, sometimes, when you've upset a loved one or let someone down?

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expatinscotland · 04/05/2013 20:39

You sound pretty miserable in these posts, including the OP. I don't believe there's a god so I don't have to worry about letting an imaginary being down. I'm glad, too, it's hard enough communicating with people who can actually speak back to your face, I can't imagine how difficult it would be continually trying to guess what a fictional, and rather spurious, IMO, being felt and thought about my unrequited love for him/her.

Spero · 04/05/2013 20:47

But I thought Christianity boiled down to its essence was faith, hope and love, the greatest being love?

You are not loving yourself it seems. You are painting a picture of your god as a vengeful, hateful being who would seek to punish you for loving your husband.

Perhaps you could turn it around and think god would be pleased that by loving your husband you increase the amount of love in the world and might even be showing him the way to love god too?

Jewcy · 04/05/2013 20:53

I am guilty of not loving myself, that's true. I have already asserted that God does not punish those who love Him; He is a God of love. That doesn't mean I don't have a responsibility to uphold His teachings, however.

Expat, I am sorry you find it hard communicating with living, breathing beings. No wonder you are finding my posts weird.

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ouryve · 04/05/2013 20:55

I will pray for you..

I'm sure I have that on my bingo card, somewhere.

expatinscotland · 04/05/2013 20:56

' I am sorry you find it hard communicating with living, breathing beings. No wonder you are finding my posts weird.'

If only that were the reason . . .

Jewcy · 04/05/2013 20:58

ouryve,

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Spero · 04/05/2013 20:58

Then surely the only thing god can be angry about is that you do not love yourself as one of his children.

Jewcy · 04/05/2013 20:59

expat, come on, love, cheer up!

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expatinscotland · 04/05/2013 20:59

Oh, believe me, I'm laughing my arse off here.

Jewcy · 04/05/2013 21:00

Blimey, Spero, now I am miserable...

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expatinscotland · 04/05/2013 21:00

Especially at ouryve's last post. :o

Spero · 04/05/2013 21:02

Didn't mean to add to your woes. But your religion is all about love and forgiveness!

So stop trying to second guess god and just love your husband and yourself. Maybe you will have a baby to love, maybe you won't. But either way, it can't be about god 'punishing' you.

Jewcy · 04/05/2013 21:05

Thanks for the encouragement, Spero. I've always got the cats...

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MareeyaDolores · 04/05/2013 21:15

Come on, now, let's all play (pray?) nicely.

Jewcy · 04/05/2013 21:16

It bothers me that some of you enjoy suggesting that I am subject to a vengeful or hateful God. For those of you who are married/in a relationship: do you ride roughshod through that relationship, doing as you please, overstepping boundaries and living as though you are all that matters? This is not how I wish to be in my relationship with God. Yes, he is an all-loving, all-forgiving God, but it pains me to know I hurt Him; that I so wilfully ignore His precepts and commands sometimes. This is what my OP was actually supposed to be about; and branching off from that was my fear that this wilful disobedience may result in blessings being withheld (whatever that means).

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Jewcy · 04/05/2013 21:18

Mareeya, sorry you found me patronising.

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MareeyaDolores · 04/05/2013 21:26

Trouble is, when we're being hard on ourselves, it's easy to get a bit vengeful and hateful. And then we imagine others feel that way too. And then we (some of us, well me, anyway) imagine God might behave like that, while telling ourselves we aren't really projecting our own image onto Him, because He's only being vengeful/ hateful for our own good.

When I do this, I see a similarity with the abused childs thinking: anyway, being sent up chimneys / caned / sleeping in a coal hole was good for me, and my parents only did it cos they loved me. The difference is that (contrary to much of the apparent evidence) I am learning to trust God enough to tantrum at Him.

MareeyaDolores · 04/05/2013 21:28

jewcy, you can't be the patronising newcomer, I've reserved that space for myself.

Jewcy · 04/05/2013 21:33

Mareeya, a light bulb moment for me when I read your post. Thank you, thank you...

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