Discipline From Common Spiritual Goals

discipline - Discipline from Common Spiritual Goals

The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword. Hebrews 4:12

David and I have found that deepening our spiritual closeness is very difficult. But at the same time it is extremely rewarding.

For years our spiritual intimacy consisted of sitting on the same pew. But, gradually, we began to develop common spiritual goals. Those goals included reading through the entire New Testament during a year. We also read a Proverb each day of the month. And, at one point, we each bought a separate One Year Bible and read through the entire Bible together in a year.

We decided one year to memorize ten Scripture passages dealing with communication. That was an especially challenging topic for us at that point, so we memorized ten verses that helped us identify principles for talking with one another. Another year we memorized Scripture passages on gentleness and honor because we both wanted to develop those characteristics in our relationship.

Finally, David and I have worked together on topical Bible studies. We’ve taken turns choosing the topic and the method. One year I chose a workbook from the Christian bookstore on the book of Ephesians. We discussed how well we were doing at bringing praise and glory to God through our personal lives and through our marriage. The next year David wanted to do a word study on “grace.” So we divided up the passages from the concordance and discussed what God’s grace looks like and how we could create a grace-filled home.

As David and I worked toward our spiritual goals, we began to increase our intimacy with God and with one another. It’s challenging to take that kind of time and effort to study God’s Word, but the blessings are eternal.

What common spiritual goals can you and your spouse work on starting today? What can you do to get started?