Sinful & Non-Sinful Compromise
Sinful compromise, that displeases God, involves some kind of acceptance of a moral position or behavior that is contrary to what pleases the Lord. We may do this out of fear (Galatians 2:12; Genesis 12:10-20) or greed for material gain (Luke 8:14). Some common forms of God-displeasing compromise would include serving and/or worshiping both the Lord and some other god (2 Kings 17:33-34), marrying someone who is not a faithful follower of the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:39), or having some other close association with an unbeliever which is likely to lead to situations where the temptation to compromise is high (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). In essence, we compromise when we only partially obey God out of fear or greed. This is seen, for instance, when Moses confronted Pharoah about letting the Israelites leave Egypt. Pharoah wanted to secure his own interests by having the Israelites stay in Egypt, not go very far from Egypt, have only the men leave with their families staying, or to go but leave all their belongings in Egypt (Exodus 8:25, 28; 10:22, 24 with ASB note).
Positive compromise, that pleases God, involves giving in to the other on matters where only pride or our own preference is at stake but there is no violation of moral principle. One example could be settling a court case before it goes to trial (Matthew 5:25, WPNT note). Another could be Paul trying to make persecution less likely by displaying his Jewishness to those who were trying to stir up trouble for the church by saying Paul was encouraging Jews to reject their Jewishness (Acts 21:20-22, IVPBBC note). Sometimes, then, positive compromise can be a wise way to try to preserve the peace or reduce potential problems.
A spouse may compromise, in a non-sinful way, to encourage the stability of ‘we’ over the satisfaction of ‘me.’ Typically, the more self-centered spouse will insist on a compromise that favors them; the spouse who loves less will demand their way; the spouse who is less mature in Christ will try to bully their more mature mate. The repeated compromise of the more mature spouse may seem unfair but it can be an opportunity for even greater spiritual growth. Growth in love can really be spurred on by dealing with difficult people. In such cases, doing our part to promote peace in a marriage where there is no biblically-acceptable reason for divorce, would seem to be the right thing to do (Romans 12:18; 14:19).
Unending pleasure in the next life; training for godly pleasure in this one.