This week we are focusing on what it means to live a Christ Centered Marriage that is focused on Glorifying God! Go back and read the series from the beginning HERE.

Two keys to living out a marriage that glorifies and honors God is being selfless in marriage and learning how to communicate clearly. The next essential ingredient in a Christ Centered Marriage is learning how to grow together in the Lord. Your relationship with the Lord is integral to your marriage! 

Within a Christian marriage, where both husband and wife are believers, you have a beautiful opportunity to encourage each other in your walks with the Lord. The marriage relationship is the perfect way to realize what a sinner you are in need of saving grace! Our spouse is the best person to keep us accountable to the Word of God.

But as with any other part of our Christian walk, growing together in the Lord doesn’t happen over night and it does take intentional daily work to draw closer to each other and closer to the Lord! Here are some practical tips to get you started on drawing closer to the Lord as a married couple.

5 Ways You Can Grow Together in the Lord

1) Talk to Each Other

Your relationship with each other and your relationship with the Lord won’t deepen if you are not on the same page. Have you ever had real intentional conversations about the spiritual state of your marriage? Or your own spiritual state? Communicate clearly with your spouse!

Be real and share where you are with your spouse. Open up and be honest about the sins you struggle with. Do you struggle to have consistent Bible reading time everyday? Share that with your spouse and ask for their help and accountability in making that a daily habit!

2) Read Together

As a couple you should develop a routine of reading Scripture and other good books together. At different times in our marriage we have been better at this. Sometimes we are in a consistant, daily routine of reading scripture together and other times we let the busyness of life take over and the daily reading gets drop. But continually diving into scripture together is essential to forming a Christ centered marriage!

We also try to always be in a good book together. We have read many books on marriage, parenting, disciplines, doctrine, and more! We always try to be in a habit of reading at least one chapter a night of good books. You can see books we recommend via our book reviews page. We update this monthly with more good books we recommend! Browse through and find a book you can read together.

3) Worship Together

Make sure to always go to Church and worship together! You should always be sitting right besides each other to worship {unless someone is sick}. Husbands, it’s your responsibility to make sure your family goes to Church!

But don’t let your worship only be on Sunday!

• Encourage each other to turn on worship music or hymns throughout the week.
• Join a couples or family Bible study during the week.
• Practice hospitality together and learn to serve as a family.
• Listen to sermons through out the week while you are cooking, cleaning, or in the car! We recommend Grace To You sermons. The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood also has some great articles and resources.

Often my husband and I will pick a good sermon to listen too and we each need to find time in our day to listen to it. He will listen to it in the car on his way to work and I’ll listen to it while cooking or cleaning. Then when he gets home in the evening we can discuss it over dinner!

4) Pray Together

If you are struggling to be on the same page and grow together in the Lord, then you need to PRAY! This is the best thing you can do for your marriage. Pray that God gives both of you the motivation and wisdom to come together before the Lord. Pray that He shows you ways you can strengthen your marriage the resolve to do so!

Then actually come together and pray together! My in-laws have started praying in the morning together so that they can have some alone time uninterrupted to start their day off together in prayer {they have 7 children}. Often this means my mother-in-law is getting up at 5am to pray before my father-in-law heads off to work. Sometimes it’s a sacrifice but it’s well worth it! It draws them to each other as well as the Lord.

My husband and I make it a habit to pray at each meal {even if we are out} and at bedtime. We also are trying to get better about praying at random times together. When I’m having a stressful day with our babies, my hubby will call and ask if we can pray together. If I know my hubby has an important meeting with a client at work, I’ll pray with him before he leaves. Make the time to pray together, it’s worth it!

5) Find Mentors

It’s so important, individually and as a couple, to find strong Christian mentors. Learning from older couples can be just the thing your marriage needs! You can also strive to be mentors to younger couples within the church!

Growing together in the Lord takes a lot of small, intentional steps throughout each and very day. Feel like you failed at that today? Pick up and start again tomorrow. Make a decision today on how you will start growing together in the Lord. So turn off your computer, shut off your phone, and go Pray with your spouse how you can start growing together!

 

More in this Series:

• Learning the Discipline of Selflessness in Marriage
• Communicate Clearly With Your Spouse – No Manipulating
• Growing Together in the Lord (you are here)
• Come back tomorrow for – Intentional Parenting – Train them up!