Day 148

2 Samuel 21–22 | 1 Corinthians 7:1–16

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Some tensions don’t have clean resolutions.

That’s what today’s reading reminded me.

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul addresses a hard, often heartbreaking reality: a believer married to an unbeliever.

It’s not a category most people prepare for on their wedding day.

But it happens.

And when it does—it raises questions most of us aren’t equipped to answer.

What does faithfulness look like when only one spouse has it?

How do you walk in light when the person you share a bed with walks in darkness?

Do you stay? Go? Fight? Surrender?

Paul doesn’t minimize any of it.

But he does reframe it.

“If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him… For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife.” (1 Corinthians 7:13–14)

It’s not a promise of salvation.

But it is a powerful statement of influence.

And every time I read this passage, I’m reminded how blessed I am that it’s not mine.

Talacey was a believer long before we ever met.

She grew up in a home shaped by Scripture and saturated in prayer.

Her quiet faithfulness runs deeper than mine, and her understanding of the Word often surpasses mine too.

She’s never flaunted it—just lives it, steady and quiet, sanctifying our home one day at a time.

And I do not deserve her.

I see in her a portrait of humble, steady discipleship that sanctifies our home in ways I don’t always know how to name.

But not everyone has a spouse like that.

Some live daily with the ache of being spiritually out of step with the one person they love most.

And Paul doesn’t dismiss that ache.

He dignifies it.

He says: Stay, if you can.

Be faithful. Be steady. Be holy.

Because your presence matters more than you know.

A Different Kind of Victory

That thread of influence and unseen impact kept surfacing in 2 Samuel 22, too.

It’s a psalm of David—one of the final ones we hear from his lips.

And it’s not about palace politics or national triumph.

It’s about deliverance.

“He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.” (2 Samuel 22:20)

David knows something we forget:

Victory doesn’t always mean winning on the outside.

Sometimes it means staying faithful on the inside.

Sometimes it means loving someone who doesn’t believe in the God you serve—and still pointing them to Jesus not with arguments, but with patience.

Not with ultimatums, but with presence.

That’s not easy.

It takes strength most of us don’t have.

But it also reflects a Savior most of us underestimate.

Because That’s What Jesus Did

He pursued a bride who didn’t believe.

Who ran. Rejected. Betrayed.

And He stayed.

He loved.

He sacrificed.

He laid Himself down—knowing full well that not every heart would turn in return.

That’s what Paul is calling us to mirror.

Not martyrdom.

But mercy.

Not passive enabling.

But patient endurance.

Because there are homes where the gospel is preached not with words—but with faithfulness.

To the One Waiting

If you’re married to someone who doesn’t share your faith, this passage is not a prescription of shame—it’s an affirmation of honor.

You’re not failing.

You’re not forgotten.

You are seen.

By God.

And by the spouse who watches you quietly model what love without strings looks like.

You may feel alone in your faith—but the Spirit is not absent in your house.

So don’t give up.

Don’t grow hard.

And don’t believe the lie that you’re not making a difference.

Sometimes holiness looks like staying.

And sometimes the gospel sounds like silence, sacrifice, and a Savior who never walked away.

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Lord, thank You for the gift of a wife who walks with You. For the heritage of faith that shaped her. For the grace I see in her every day. And thank You for the power of Your presence in marriages that feel uneven. Give strength to the weary, hope to the waiting, and peace to the discouraged. Let the believing spouse in every home be a vessel of grace, not guilt. Of patience, not pressure. And remind us all that our faithfulness is never wasted—because You never waste what’s offered to You. Amen.