Verse: 2 Corinthians 6:14-16
14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.

Devotion
At face value this is a pretty tough verse. Is Paul commanding us to not be friends with unbelievers? How would that even be possible? Are we supposed to live in a commune setting? Thoughtful Bible study includes understanding that each passage has to be taken in context with the whole of the Bible. So can we round this thought out with other verses that apply?

Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral” ( 1 Corinthians 5:9-10). So he seems to indicate that we can’t just stop “associating” with unbelievers. There must be something deeper than association that is meant by the word “yoked.” And Jesus tells prays for us these powerful words: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” This verse is where we get the thought to be “in the world, but not of the world.”

What the Corinthian church was dealing with was that they weren’t just “in the world” but they were falling in love with the world, being overly influenced by the world, and therefore becoming like the world. The world was shaping their beliefs, their desires, and their lifestyles. This is at least part of the warning of Paul. As followers of Jesus we are called to be different. While we live in the world, we are not to take our moral cues from the world. We are not to strive to be loved and accepted by the world. And we are not to live like the world lives.

Paul encourages us in Romans, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2). And John commands us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17).

The devotional question then is, how am I being overly influenced by the world? In what ways do I love the world as much as, or more than God? How is the world pulling me away from a Biblical worldview? How has the world bled into my heart and begun to steal my affections from Jesus? As we look thoughtfully at these, let us invite the Holy Spirit to gently convict us and to “unyoke” us from the world so we can be set apart for Jesus.

Prayer
Jesus, show me where I am falling in love with the world, and yoking myself in ways that will hinder my relationship with you.

Author: Christian Dunn