Scripture needed!

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Lillith

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Hello scholarly people.

I have a wonderful husband with a really Large capacity for love and giving but…

He has to be dragged to Church (I’m exaggerating, it usually just takes a sad look), and he doesn’t like talking about God, Eternity, Morality…that’s why I satisfy myself with such things by visiting CA…He wasn’t always this way. He studied and was very devoted before his mother died of cancer, but I think that he is angry with God, and he told me about a really heart felt plea he made to God to please save his mama, and his devastation when God did not answer his request. Ten years later and he still tears up and is not healed and I pray hard for him, but there is a rift I fear.

I know I read somewhere that his eternal destination is very much my business, but he continually says to me that it is not, and it is his personal business between himself and God, and I should butt out.

Am I wrong…I need scripture to back me up…
 
Hi Lilith,

I though about it and I don’t have one that jumps out at me at the moment, but maybe someone else will later.

For the time being I think that Cain’s question to God “Am I Brother’s keeper?” in Genesis 4:9 is answered throughout the rest of the scripture as YES.

Jesus commands us to love one another as he loved us, which is a tall order, and which would mean being as concerned for other’s salvation as Christ is concerned for ours. Jn 13:34 “Love one another even as I have loved you.”

Also the second greatest commandment is “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-3; Mt 22:34-40; Lk 10:25-28).

You may want to check out Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s awesome article “Who is My Neighbor?” at catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=1427 lots of great stuff there.

Also Lumen Gentium, The dogmatic Constituion on the Church from Vatican II has my favorite line from the beginning of Chapter 2:
God, however, does not make men holy and save them merely as individuals, without bond or link between one another.
Does any of this help at all?
God Bless,
VC
 
This says that the way we save people is by preaching the Word of God, since people don’t know it through their own wisdom:

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.(1 Co 1:21).

Here are a couple of others I found:

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain salvation in Christ Jesus with its eternal glory (2 Ti 2:10).

how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him (Heb 2:3).
 
Verbum Caro:
Hi Lilith,

I though about it and I don’t have one that jumps out at me at the moment, but maybe someone else will later.

For the time being I think that Cain’s question to God “Am I Brother’s keeper?” in Genesis 4:9 is answered throughout the rest of the scripture as YES.

Jesus commands us to love one another as he loved us, which is a tall order, and which would mean being as concerned for other’s salvation as Christ is concerned for ours. Jn 13:34 “Love one another even as I have loved you.”

Also the second greatest commandment is “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-3; Mt 22:34-40; Lk 10:25-28).

You may want to check out Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s awesome article “Who is My Neighbor?” at catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=1427 lots of great stuff there.

Also Lumen Gentium, The dogmatic Constituion on the Church from Vatican II has my favorite line from the beginning of Chapter 2:

Does any of this help at all?
God Bless,
VC
Yes indeed! I had not thought of my husband as my brother…it took a fine person like you to point that out!

I am thinking about St. Paul…I somehow remember him talking about a believing wife saving the entire family and likewise for a believing husnband…still looking myself, but does that ring any bells for you?

Peace…Teresa
 
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awalt:
This says that the way we save people is by preaching the Word of God, since people don’t know it through their own wisdom:

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.(1 Co 1:21)…
Thank you for working for me Awalt 😃

These are all brilliant scriptures that will work, but I don’t think on my husband. He fancies himself more astute and knowledgable at scripture than I am, and If I brought up the word wisdom he might thimk I was calling him unwise. Truth be known he is a former Baptist who did study the scripture a lot, and thought about the ministry at one time…

He calls himself Batholic now, and sees the wisdom in Catholicism…this rift between himself and God is what holds him back from R.C.I.A.

Have you ever seen the scripture St. Paul wrote about a believing wife…As I asked Verbum Caro…I am looking myself…but does that ring any bells for you?
 
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Lillith:
Hello scholarly people.

I have a wonderful husband with a really Large capacity for love and giving but…

He has to be dragged to Church (I’m exaggerating, it usually just takes a sad look), and he doesn’t like talking about God, Eternity, Morality…that’s why I satisfy myself with such things by visiting CA…He wasn’t always this way. He studied and was very devoted before his mother died of cancer, but I think that he is angry with God, and he told me about a really heart felt plea he made to God to please save his mama, and his devastation when God did not answer his request. Ten years later and he still tears up and is not healed and I pray hard for him, but there is a rift I fear.

I know I read somewhere that his eternal destination is very much my business, but he continually says to me that it is not, and it is his personal business between himself and God, and I should butt out.

Am I wrong…I need scripture to back me up…
If in marriage the two become “one flesh” (Gen 2:24, Mt. 19:5-6, Mk 10:8, I Cor 6:16, Eph 5:31), then your destiny is linked. However, ultimate choices are his and his alone through his God-given free will. You can’t force him into Heaven.
 
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mercygate:
If in marriage the two become “one flesh” (Gen 2:24, Mt. 19:5-6, Mk 10:8, I Cor 6:16, Eph 5:31), then your destiny is linked. However, ultimate choices are his and his alone through his God-given free will. You can’t force him into Heaven.
I suppose not… 😦 but can I drag him?
 
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Lillith:
Hello scholarly people.

I have a wonderful husband with a really Large capacity for love and giving but…

He has to be dragged to Church (I’m exaggerating, it usually just takes a sad look), and he doesn’t like talking about God, Eternity, Morality…that’s why I satisfy myself with such things by visiting CA…He wasn’t always this way. He studied and was very devoted before his mother died of cancer, but I think that he is angry with God, and he told me about a really heart felt plea he made to God to please save his mama, and his devastation when God did not answer his request. Ten years later and he still tears up and is not healed and I pray hard for him, but there is a rift I fear.

I know I read somewhere that his eternal destination is very much my business, but he continually says to me that it is not, and it is his personal business between himself and God, and I should butt out.

Am I wrong…I need scripture to back me up…
In addition to the great scripture references, especially in regard to the “two becoming one flesh,” we also need to remember that it is indeed out business to help our brothers on to salvation.

For instance, Paul tells us:

Gal 6:1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
Gal 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

We are admonished to bear one another’s burdens, and only by doing so do we fulfill the law of Christ. We are to “restore such a one” that has drifted from spirituality, being spiritual ourselves.

And what does Jude say?

Jud 1:22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting;
Jud 1:23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

Have mercy on the doubting. Do not forget them! Like Christ pursuing the one lost sheep from among the fold, we must pursue those who are straying from the faith.

It’s our responsibility to admonish them to return and be spiritual, but ultimately your husband is responsible for his own soul.
 
yes, yes, I am reminded again that my husband is responsible for his own soul…I am responsible for recovering his socks…but not his soul…

What do you make of 1corinthians ch.7:14-16 (I found the believing wife passages I spoke of earlier) It gives a hope! And says I **CAN ** butt in
  1. The unbelieving husband is consecrated by his believing wife; the unbelieving wife is consecrated by her believing husband…
  2. Wife, how do you know that you will not save your husband; Or you Husband, how do you know that you will not save your wife.
 
:bowdown: …thank you, thank you…no applause necessary…

Just goes to prove that Catholics Do Read The Bible
 
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Lillith:
yes, yes, I am reminded again that my husband is responsible for his own soul…I am responsible for recovering his socks…but not his soul…

What do you make of 1corinthians ch.7:14-16 (I found the believing wife passages I spoke of earlier) It gives a hope! And says I **CAN **butt in
  1. The unbelieving husband is consecrated by his believing wife; the unbelieving wife is consecrated by her believing husband…
  2. Wife, how do you know that you will not save your husband; Or you Husband, how do you know that you will not save your wife.
OK, you can butt in, but you must not nag! (you knew that).
 
This is something I wrote up to prove to someone that the truth matters. They were being indifferent and saying that it didn’t matter as long as we all have Christ. I’ll just post the whole thing, it might be of some use to you.

Why do I say it matters if we know and believe the truth?
• God is truth. There is one objective truth that is eternal and unchanging.
• John 4:24 People must worship God in truth
• John 8:31 The truth will set you free
• John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Nobody comes to the Father except through the way, through the life, and through the truth.
• John 18:37 - Jesus came to testify to the truth, not to something else.
• John 18:38 – Pilate dismisses the truth as something that doesn’t matter, and so decides that it doesn’t matter if Christ or Barabbas gets crucified. This is how dangerous indifference can be. With Pilate it led to a physical death, but with us it can lead to spiritual death. Every Bible verse teaches us something, and I think this one teaches us this important idea.
• Rom 1:18, 2:8 – The wrath of God will come on those who suppress the truth and/or do not obey it
• Rom 3:7 – People who do not follow the truth are in sin
• God wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth
• Ephesians 5:15-17 We must always try to work and understand God better and what He really wants

Why do I insist on pointing out the truth?
• 1 Cor 13:4-6 Love rejoices in truth!
• 2 Cor 4:2 We commend ourselves in God’s sight by openly declaring the truth (even if we are persecuted for doing so)
• 2 Tim 2:22-26 We must avoid pointless arguments but at the same time correct others kindly
• James 5:19 If anyone goes away from the truth, anyone who brings that person around saves his soul

But most of all:
• Eph 5:1-14 God’s wrath is coming on those who are deceived by untrue arguments, so we must work to expose these empty arguments
• 2 Tim 4:1-5 Paul commands that we proclaim the word always, whether it is convenient or not, and that we patiently reprimand people and convince people of the truth. He says that the time will come when people won’t listen to doctrine, will be diverted into myths, and will listen to all sorts of teachers (this personally sounds like Protestants to me, with all the different teachers they have, but I could be wrong)

Also 1 Timothy 4:6-8

6If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
 
Whenever I think about this situation and my involvement in the salvation of those around me the parable of the seed that Jesus taught comes to mind. This is how I look at it…

We are to plant the seed firmly. Make sure that it has all the knowledge and nutrients it needs to grow and then step back and let the gardner (God/Holy Spirit) take over. If we hound the person or keep trying to pound it into them then we are telling them that they no longer make the choice but we make it for them. And THAT is like choking the plant and we end up killing the seed that we planted.
 
Mercy and singing beauty…

I will tread lightly…advice well worth taking…

I have mostly been praying, but every once in a blue moon I ask how he feels and where he’s at…and he says it’s not my business. He can go into detail about past relationships with friends and girlfriends but for some reason his relationship with God isn’t my business…
:rolleyes:

I will not mess up I promise. If I endure to the end of the race, and make it to God… I can not imagine not having my family (athiests) or my husband, and being happy…I know I would be and God would make it so, but it is just such a source of pain for me (yes…I offer it up)…I want my children and my husband there, and it is especially critical because I come from a loooooong line of unbelievers…on both sides. So it has always been my dream to fill the pews, and then fill the Heavens with MY family

:gopray2: In Jesus’ name I pray!
 
He can go into detail about past relationships with friends and girlfriends but for some reason his relationship with God isn’t my business…
For everyone it’s different. We are talking about a belief system here. Your beliefs make you WHO YOU ARE. So it is so much more personal than a relationship with another human. Obviously your husband has been hurt in the past regarding faith. This is the deepest pain someone can experience just as our faith is the deepest joy we experience! Be patient with him and come to realize that you cannot make the decision for him. I would not ask him any more where he is with things. Let him come to you. By living your life as an example he will come around if that is what he wants. Let him bring it up. I know this is hard but believe me… having a wife that is christian makes it PRETTY hard to ignore God all together. God bless you and your house!
 
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Lillith:
I have mostly been praying, but every once in a blue moon I ask how he feels and where he’s at…and he says it’s not my business. He can go into detail about past relationships with friends and girlfriends but for some reason his relationship with God isn’t my business…
Your situation is certainly difficult, but I daresay not without hope. I truly am sorry to hear of your husband’s unwillingness to share his feelings about God with you. The Bible is literally jam-packed with verses from which I certainly believe he could benefit, but he has to be willing to receive them.

I’m a big believer in the “two joined together as one flesh” scriptures and I do believe that, when he married you, he believed in this as well. Sometimes, it’s not what you say to him that drives forth the message, rather how you live your own life.

A wife who lives her life in prayer and love and forgiveness in her heart is an excellent living witness of the glory of God. We have to live with the fact that we don’t tell God what to do. God is in control and He won’t necessarily grant us every wish we want at the time we want it.

I believe that God has a perspective infinitely more vast than ours and, in time, we’ll come to understand exactly why God may allow a loved one of ours to pass on before we were ready to let them go. For all I know, perhaps his mother’s imminent passing brought her closer to the Lord and her soul was saved as a result.

We don’t have the answers to many of these mysteries, but we trust in the Lord. I don’t know if this was at all helpful, but I pray it was. 🙂
 
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Lillith:
Have you ever seen the scripture St. Paul wrote about a believing wife…As I asked Verbum Caro…I am looking myself…but does that ring any bells for you?
Lillith,

The verse you are looking for is I Cor 7:14.

If I may venture a comment, possibly your husband’s grief is over his loss of his mother rather than his mother not being “saved”? I haven’t read all the posts in the thread, but I do know that God’s idea of “saving” someone frequently does not entail prolonging that person’s life here on earth. God takes, and we need to take also, the longer view.
  • Liberian
 
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