If Your Spouse Stops Believing

If Your Spouse Stops Believing

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers,” Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:14. This is often emphasized as an important dating principle for Christians: Seek a future spouse who shares your faith. Marriage between two believers can be hard enough; a difference in fundamental beliefs can add tremendous stress and hardship to the relationship.

But this week’s featured article puts forth a very different situation. What is a Christian to do when his or her Christian spouse begins to doubt? Or when that spouse walks away from faith entirely? What should a Christian do when his or her spouse abandons the beliefs that united the marriage at its start?

In “My Husband Is Deconstructing His Faith. How Do I Journey with Him?” Kimberly Penrod Pelletier candidly describes the differences in belief that have developed in her marriage. Her husband’s spiritual journey has taken a very different direction than hers; in this article she explores how she is seeking to be faithful both to Jesus and to her marriage vows. Pelletier explores questions that many Christians wrestle with if their spouse doesn’t believe: “How do we connect? How do I like him again? How did he get here? Why didn’t he tell me earlier? Will we still go to church together? Will we ever feel normal again?” But more than questions, she also offers 10 specific and helpful principles for other believers in a similar situation. If you are in this situation or if you know someone who is, check out this week’s featured article for a candid, vulnerable, and insightful discussion of this difficult marital struggle.