This is the kind of question that pops into your mind for a moment before you chase it away.
It’s not something anyone likes thinking about, but when your partner lives an ungodly lifestyle or doesn’t have faith, it’s natural to question what happens after death.
The thought of experiencing eternal bliss while someone you love is suffering sounds impossible.
So, if heaven is meant to be perfect, how do you bridge this gap?
1. What Scripture Actually Says
When you go digging through the Bible looking for comfort, you’re not actually going to find much on this specific scenario.
Neither the Old Testament nor the Apostles explained how partnership and family dynamics work in the afterlife.
In fact, Jesus explicitly said in Matthew 22:30 that people “neither marry nor are given in marriage.”
Reading this verse feels confusing because what are you supposed to do then? Just forget about your spouse?
However, the Bible is focused on teaching us how to evolve our identity. In a way, it’s every person for themselves. It’s your partner’s responsibility to work on themselves.
In the afterlife, we’re meant to have a union with God, while marriage between people is something that belongs on earth.
It’s implied that the way we experience feelings will change in the afterlife.
2. Is Heaven Individualized?
Because the traditional view of heaven leaves too much to the imagination, many people wonder if it’s actually an individualized experience.
Maybe each one of us experiences our own version of paradise, surrounded by all of our favorite people. Your partner would then be right there with you, while the real them is somewhere else.
While this sounds a little comforting, it also sounds like a simulation.
Essentially, all the joy you experience would then be false, an image. This doesn’t sit right with many people, and I share their sentiment.
It makes God sound like a deceiver.
Scripture paints heaven as a place of ultimate truth, where everything false is stripped away.
Plus, the biblical heaven isn’t individual; instead, it’s very communal.
3. Redefining Fulfillment
So, if it’s not a simulation and we don’t magically forget our partner, then where does the fulfillment come from?
We struggle with the fact that the human idea of fulfillment is strongly tied to other people. We need love, support, company, fun, touch, etc.
But biblical fulfillment is something entirely different.
Right now, our hearts are fragmented. We put pieces of our identity and purpose into our partners. But in heaven, all those fragments are put together and completed by God‘s presence.
Heaven doesn’t erase your love for your partner, but it sets your soul free from all external influences.
As harsh as that sounds, you will be whole all by yourself.
4. Is There Any Hope for Them?
This brings us to the hardest part: Is there any chance that someone condemned to hell could make it to heaven?
Scripture offers the answer none of us likes.
Em Luke 16:26, Jesus speaks of hell as an eternal fate, using words like “everlasting punishment” and describing a “great chasm” that no one can cross.
And the overall Christian tradition agrees that both heaven and hell são final.
Now, ideas like purgatory offer some solace.
The Bible speaks of being saved through fire, and even the possibility of the living you leave behind helping save you through their prayer and deeds.
These beliefs are especially present in Catholicism.
5. Put Your Trust in God
It can be very hard to reconcile God’s endless goodness with the terrifying possibility of hell. Believers have been struggling with this very thing for centuries.
It’s crucial to remember that God isn’t cruel. He doesn’t delight in punishment. He only respects our livre arbítrio, just like we must respect the consequences of our own choices.
Your partner has the right to their opinion as well as the right to reject God.
All of this likely scares you more than them if they don’t believe in the afterlife.
6. Change Needs to Come Now
If your partner does come to care about heaven, this terrible question should make them change their ways this instant.
For someone who strongly believes in the afterlife, it’s scary to even think that someone you love might not end up in heaven.
Share your anxieties with them, and try to make a change now.
We’re able to earn either heaven or hell only while we stand on this earth.
If you wish to bring this up with them, approach them without judgment and pushiness.
There’s no point in agonizing over the future you can’t control. Instead, try to do something about it.
A little Aquarius, devoted to writing and embroidery. Through my writing, I hope to empower readers to align with their true selves and navigate life’s mysteries with confidence.