Will Reading Scriptures With My Husband Help Our Marriage
I was with a married couple in my counseling part. Well-nigh the end of the session, we discussed the spiritual aspect of their relationship.
"We don't experience close to God," the hubby said. "We tin can't figure out His volition for our lives and relationship. We're simply not experiencing His power in our marriage."
"How frequently do you read the Bible?" I asked them.
The homo said, "To exist honest, I read the Bible nearly twice a calendar week."
"And I usually read information technology five times a week," the wife said.
"No, I mean, how frequently practise you read the Bible together?" I asked.
They looked at each other and back at me. Finally, the wife replied, "Well, actually, nosotros don't read the Bible together."
Why read the Bible together?
Without giving them a hard fourth dimension, I tried to persuade them that reading the Discussion of God as a couple would invigorate the spiritual part of their relationship. I admitted that my wife, Sandy, and I didn't read the Bible together for years after we were married. At the time, nosotros didn't realize that we were choosing to leave a huge power source untapped. I told this couple near the Bible reading program that Sandy and I had developed, and they decided to attempt information technology. Over the course of two months, this couple who had never read God'southward Give-and-take together started to practice then. They discussed the passages they read, and they helped each other apply the biblical principles for living found in the Scriptures. Simply put, they allowed the Bible's power to transform their union.
Bible reading draws yous together
Subsequently just 2 months, they were much closer to God and to each other. They had found the power to communicate, to resolve conflict and to beloved each other more deeply.
Reading the Bible with your spouse will bring you lot closer than you've e'er been equally a couple. Most people don't retrieve of the Bible equally a direct artery to intimacy, simply information technology can exist … if the two of you regularly read and written report it together.
Bible reading builds intimacy
Consider Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than whatsoever two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." When you read and study the Bible on your own, what happens? God speaks to yous. He reveals deep, meaningful things nearly you lot. God tells y'all what He wants you to exercise in your life and in your relationships.
When you lot read the Bible together, your spouse learns all these intimate and personal things about you lot, too. When two hearts and minds are revealed, the result is intimacy.
How to read the Bible together
Here are a few tips to help y'all and your spouse get started reading Scripture as a couple:
Y'all demand a good report Bible.
Select ane with helpful notes that give the historical context, explain the meaning of fundamental verses and list other verses on the same topic. Y'all both need to employ the aforementioned version. Don't confuse yourselves with different translations.
Reading one passage at a time works all-time.
Concentrate on the passage, linger and attempt to discern what God is teaching. Encompass the moment as you would fourth dimension with a good friend or trusted mentor. Let the meaning of the passage thoroughly sink in. Let information technology get to your brain and and so go on to your eye and your volition.
Many sources will provide inspiration.
There are a variety of means to choose Bible passages to read, study and meditate on. Your individual Bible study times can call your attending to verses that you might want to look at further with your spouse. Your pastor's sermons are a gilded mine of verses to consider. Pocket-size-group Bible studies are another rich source of discussion material. Radio and tv teachers can also provide verses for your articulation report.
Spend a large part of your study time reading a volume of the Bible from offset to end.
Read the volume in small chunks, a few verses at a fourth dimension, and don't skip to your favorite sections. This approach provides continuity, and yous'll get a good, solid picture of the volume's overall message and purpose. Plus, you lot won't have to worry almost which passage to read next because you'll just pick up where yous left off.
If you lot're new to Bible reading and studying as a couple, there are sure books of the Bible I advise y'all showtime with. Proverbs is a corking book for couples. Other intensely applied books that are concise and like shooting fish in a barrel to read include Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. I also urge you to read the Gospels together.
An easy, four-step programme
The simple, straightforward system that Sandy and I have developed for reading and studying the Bible requires minimal time, and it takes into account our male-female differences. Information technology works for us, and I think it will work for you if you lot follow four unproblematic steps over a two-week period.
Step No. 1: Read the Bible together.
Early in the week — on a Sunday or Monday evening — one spouse reads aloud the passage of Scripture that the 2 of you have selected. You and then take a minute or two to silently meditate on the passage. Ask God to speak to yous through His Discussion.
Then each of you lot briefly shares your response to the passage. Commencement, what does the passage mean? 2nd, what is God saying to you? Third, what thoughts and emotions does the passage trigger? It's mutual for the wife to have an firsthand reaction and for the husband to non accept much to say. He hasn't processed yet, which is OK. (He has until Friday.) Wives, don't press him for a response correct abroad. Allow him mull it over and explore what the verses mean to him. The truth is, you both demand time to get the deeper meaning of the passage.
At the end of this coming together, you do iii things: Schedule the next coming together for Fri or Saturday evening; hold hands and pray that God volition speak to each of yous through the passage over the next five or six days; and record the passage on an index card or in your telephone.
Footstep No. two: Meditate on the Bible reading.
During the next five or six days, both of you lot should conduct the passage with you wherever you lot become. Read the verses and meditate on them at least one time a day. This could be part of your daily personal devotional time. Inquire God to show you what the passage means and how He wants you to apply it. Record — on your bill of fare or in your phone — what you believe God is proverb to you through the verses.
Step No. iii: Discuss the Bible reading.
At the end of the week, meet again to share the results of your meditation and reflection. Read from your card or your phone what you recorded during the week. Talk about what the verses hateful for your life, your matrimony and your family. Tell each other what you'll practise to employ the passage in the coming week. Agree to record how you specifically apply what you learned and what happens when you exercise. Pray briefly that God will help you both follow through in your awarding of His Word.
Step No. four: Apply what you lot learned.
The last step is to see approximately one week afterwards to share how God used the passage in your daily experiences. Each of y'all should read your comments near how y'all applied the passage. Describe what you learned. Yous may have to admit that y'all didn't use what you lot learned and talk near what hindered you from doing so. If either spouse wasn't able to utilize the verse, extend the procedure another calendar week.
Even when you have practiced this four-pace process for reading the Bible together and gained some proficiency at information technology, you may not implement information technology in every two-week period of the twelvemonth. That may be besides much to expect. Only reading and applying a passage fifty-fifty once a month will be a tremendous achievement and volition greatly bless your relationship.
Source: https://www.focusonthefamily.com/uncategorized/bible-reading-in-marriage-is-transformational/
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