ON CHRISTIANITY
Posted: January 15, 2013 at 2:38 a.m.
LITTLE ROCK — DEAR REV. GRAHAM: My parents got very upset when my boyfriend and I got engaged a few weeks ago, because he comes from a different religion. We don’t think it makes any difference, but are we wrong?
- K.C.
DEAR K.C.: I don’t know the details of your situation, of course; for example, does one of you belong to a denomination that will require your spouse to change membership? Or are you from completely different religions? Questions like this might make a difference in how I replied if I were talking with you.
Whatever your situation, however, I hope you’ll both think through the issues that often come up when people from different religious backgrounds get married. For example, how will your children be raised religiously, and how will you explain your religious differences to them? Where will you worship as a family, and where will you give your financial support? If you are from different religions, how will you celebrate religious holidays in your family, and with your relatives?
But the issues aren’t just practical; they’re spiritual, as well. That’s because a deeper issue is involved in your question - and that’s the place God should have in your lives. If God means little to you, then your backgrounds might not make much difference to you. But God made you, and He loves you and wants to be the foundation of your marriage.
This is why I urge you to turn to Jesus Christ and ask Him to come into your lives. He will show you the meaning of true love, and He’ll be with you in the midst of life’s inevitable strains and stresses. Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock” (Matthew 7:24).
Write to Billy Graham in care of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C. 28201 or visit the website at billygraham.org
Style, Pages 28 on 01/15/2013
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