Love, Not Conformity

     Don't you just love it when something is resolved that you have wrestled with for a long time? When you once couldn't see clearly, but now you can and you have peace about it? Only God can do that.
     The issue that I struggled with was one concerning how far I was to yield to my husband. Did it even extend to taking in his beliefs and practices in following God? Was that the way unity looked in God's eyes?
     God has answered me. We, as wives, yield to our husbands in love, not necessarily in conformity. We are respectful to their beliefs, even if we think they are in error, and we don't treat them differently (in scorn) if they are.  We listen and we love despite differences.
     We don't have to be afraid of being influenced by false beliefs through them, as the Lord is our Shepherd, and the Lord is his Shepherd, if he is a believer. It is in an atmosphere of the Holy Spirit's love, and acceptance, as we allow it to flow through us , that others (including our husbands) are then free to listen to us, if He leads us to present "how we see it" to them.  If we begin to control, people's hearts shut down, and division happens, as a result, and "the war begins."
     "Keeping the unity with the bonds of peace" is the motto of our fellowshipping in the Body of Christ, but also in the marriage union. (Eph. 4:3-6)