PART III (cont.)
“We bring up a son; we care for him and educate him; we look after him with all our tender love and care and we expect his love in return. (The human does not expect to do anything without returns.) But when he has grown to manhood, he turns his mind toward spiritual things. That we think is good and we rejoice, but, alas, he not only turns his mind toward the spiritual, but he begins to follow the teachings of the Christ wholly!
“But”, one says, “it is not necessary that he should hate his father and mother who have always been so kind to him.” True, but he must choose between father and mother, and God and his angels, because as soon as he gives his whole life, his whole mind to God, he can no longer give his attention to the little things of social life; he can no longer show that same interest for the family and for the family relations and the family circle. His mind is not with father and mother, to talk of the trivial things of daily life; these become unpleasant to him; his mind is with God, and his father and mother and all his friends begin to feel that they have lost him. They no longer feel that loving sympathy and oneness with him; on the contrary, they begin to feel that he is not one with them, and they accuse him of being selfish, heartless, and of not loving them, and they tell him that he is cruel, (John 15:19.) They argue with him that these things are not required by the Spirit.
Here begins the struggle; here he finds that he must choose between father, mother, and friends, and God, for one or the other will have his mind and his attention wholly. “I came not to send peace, but a sword! For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (Matthew 10:34-35.)
If either the husband or the wife becomes wholly consecrated to God, how quickly will one feel the withdrawal of the other! As soon as a man begins to conquer self and to overcome the passions and desires of the flesh and centers his mind on God, if he is married, the wife will at once feel that she no longer has that loving sympathy, or the control over his body that she used to have. The human demand all that a man is, and when he cannot give them all, then they begin to feel combative towards him; and then will be fulfilled the words of the Christ with emphasis, “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household”, and the more firmly he adheres to the leadings of the Spirit, the more vicious will be the antagonism of those who love him most, and this antagonism cannot be overcome, cannot be reasoned with, and it will not cease until they are separated one from the other.
Should a man then leave his wife, or the wife her husband? Certainly not, so long as they can live together in harmony and peace; but when the time comes that they can no longer live together without continued struggle and combat, then justice, mercy, righteousness, goodness and all the attributes of true manhood and angelhood, forbid that two shall be thus bound together, for the result of such union is evil and only evil continually. Paul recognized this when he said, “But if the unbelieving departs, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases; but God hath called us to peace.” Here the Apostle very cautiously but wisely suggests that you are called unto peace, not to war, not to combat, not to struggle, as much as to say: If two cannot live together in peace, let them separate.
When a person decides to consecrate his life entirely to God and has properly considered the eventualities here hinted at, he, as it were, takes his life in his hands and places it in the hands of the Father and goes forward even though it costs him everything on earth and makes him an outcast and a vagabond upon the earth. Not that it will always do this; not that the person should reject and turn against father, mother, wife, children and all he loves on earth, but when the mind has been enlightened and the person perceives the necessity of giving all to God and of seeking with all the heart the kingdom of God and his righteousness, then he must make up his mind to live a perfect life, cost what it will to be perfect; and he must be perfect not only for the sake of the attainment of eternal life and for the benefits that he will receive, but that he may become a co-worker with God and his angels in rescuing from death, as many of God’s children, as possible.”
Hiram Butler
The Mark Of God: Understanding Your "I AM Presence" 