Setting Spiritual Goals as a Married Couple

Spirituality is an important aspect of life for many married couples. Setting spiritual goals together can help strengthen your bond, align your values, and enrich your marriage.

In this article, we will be sharing some tips and strategies for setting meaningful spiritual goals with your spouse.

Why Set Spiritual Goals as a Couple?

Setting spiritual goals as a couple has many benefits:

Grow Together Spiritually

Pursuing spirituality together allows you to support one another on your spiritual journeys. You can read spiritual books together, attend religious services as a couple, and discuss your spiritual insights. This helps you stay aligned and grow together.

Strengthen Your Marriage

Spiritual activities like prayer, meditation, or volunteering can bring you closer together emotionally and help you weather life’s storms. Shared spiritual beliefs also provide a firm foundation for your marriage.

Discover Shared Values

Determining your shared spiritual values and aligning your priorities allows you to make major life decisions from the same value system. This prevents conflicts down the road.

Raise Children with Similar Values

If you plan to have kids, shared spiritual goals ensure you raise them with the same set of principles and beliefs. This provides consistency and stability for your children.

How to Set Spiritual Goals as a Couple

Setting meaningful spiritual goals together requires reflection, communication, and compromise. Here are some key tips for determining spiritual objectives that nurture your marriage:

Reflect Individually First

Before setting joint spiritual goals, take time to individually contemplate your own spiritual needs and aspirations. Here are some reflection questions to ask yourself:

• What specific areas of spiritual growth do I want to focus on? Do I want to become more prayerful? Study sacred texts more? Volunteer more?
• What spiritual traditions or rituals resonate with me? How would I like to observe or honor them?
• How might I currently be neglecting my spirituality? Do I need to spend more quiet time in meditation or nature?
• What past spiritual experiences have been most meaningful to me? What did I gain from them?
• What faith-based questions or doubts am I currently struggling with? How can I address them?

Really examine your inner spiritual life and relationship with the divine. Determine what spiritual habits or practices provide you with meaning, peace, and growth. Also, reflect on spirituality gaps you want to fill or issues you want to work through.

Gaining clarity on your own spiritual needs first makes it easier to communicate them to your spouse to determine your shared objectives.

Communicate Openly

Once you’ve individually reflected, have an open discussion with your spouse to share your spiritual aspirations and listen to theirs. Here are some tips for effective communication:

• Take turns sharing your spiritual reflections without interruption. Listen attentively to understand your spouse’s perspective.
• Ask clarifying questions about any aspects you need help understanding. Don’t criticize or judge.
• Communicate areas where your spiritual goals align. Celebrate shared beliefs, values, and desired practices.
• Discuss any differences in a caring manner. Don’t argue who is right. Seek common ground.
• Express your most important spiritual needs. Explain traditions or rituals that hold deep meaning for you.
• If conflicts arise, refer back to your love and commitment. Approach spirituality as a team.

Discussing spirituality openly and supportively helps identify shared goals while respecting your individual needs. Strive for mutual understanding.

Compromise Where Necessary

With open communication, you’ll likely find aligning areas and some differing spiritual needs. Here are tips for effective compromise:

• Don’t insist on having identical goals. Embrace differences as natural for two individuals.
• Make sincere efforts to accommodate your spouse’s most cherished spiritual practices.
• If you disagree on goals, combine elements you both resonate with into joint objectives.
• For differing needs, set some individual goals you each pursue separately along with shared ones.
• View any spiritual disagreements as opportunities for growth, not conflicts. Seek common higher ground.
• Compromise requires flexibility and giving on both sides. Adjust gracefully and find workable middle paths.

Determining spiritual goals as a team means gracefully compromising at times. With creativity and willingness, you can find agreements.

Make Goals Specific

Set clear goals like “praying together each morning” or “volunteering twice a month.” Concrete goals are easier to act on than vague ones.

Start Small

Don’t overcommit. Set manageable goals you can realistically achieve given your current spiritual commitment. You can expand goals later as spirituality becomes more integrated into your lives.

Revisit and Revise

Review your spiritual goals regularly to update them as needed. Your needs may change over time. Be flexible and modify goals to fit your spiritual growth.

Making the effort to understand each other’s spirituality and bridge differences through openness, active listening, and compromise allows you to nurture spiritual goals that honor both your needs and strengthen your marriage.

Spiritual Goal Ideas for Couples

Here are some specific spiritual goals couples can pursue together:

Daily Prayer or Meditation

Set aside 5-10 minutes each day for quiet prayer, meditation, or spiritual reading. You can do this together or individually as your schedules permit. Potential activities:

• Say prayers reflecting on your daily blessings and challenges
• Practice breathwork, mantras, or visualization
• Read passages from sacred texts like the Bible or Quran
• Write in a gratitude journal

Regular spiritual quiet time helps you feel more connected to the divine throughout your daily life.

Weekly Religious Services

Attend religious gatherings as a couple each week, such as:

• Church services
• Temple ceremonies
• Mosque prayers
• Spiritual group meetings

In addition to the spiritual nourishment, you gain a community of like-minded people and social connections. If your faiths differ, attend your own services and sometimes go to each other’s for support.

Monthly Scripture Study

Select a religious text that holds meaning for both of you and read passages together once a month. For example:

• Bible: Read a section each month and discuss interpretations. What guidance do specific verses provide for your marriage?
• Quran: Choose a new surah monthly. Reflect together on important principles and lessons.
• Bhagavad Gita: Slowly work through a chapter each month. How do Krishna’s teachings apply to your lives?

Studying ancient wisdom together reveals new layers of meaning over time. Discussing them also brings mutual spiritual understanding.

Regular Religious Holidays

Honor the holy days of your faith annually as a couple. Potential activities include:

• Observing fasting periods together like Lent or Ramadan
• Attending religious feasts like Diwali, Passover, or Eid al-Fitr
• Preparing traditional holiday dishes to share
• Exchanging spiritual gifts that reflect your values
• Performing holiday rituals such as lighting menorah candles or creating nativity scenes

Sharing religious holidays provides a sacred rhythm that grounds your marriage and faith.

Spiritual Retreats

Book regular weekend spiritual retreats to immerse yourselves in meditation, prayer, or nature together. Escape daily stresses.

Volunteering for a Cause

Donate your time together to help the needy. Serve meals, build houses, or clean up nature. This expands your spirituality.

Annual Faith-Based Vacations

Plan educational and spiritual vacations like a church heritage tour or trip to a holy site. Boost spiritual connections.

Monthly Financial Donations

Set a target for monetary donations to your religious organization or a faith-based charity. Give back financially.

Explore Other Faiths

Learn about each other’s faith backgrounds if they differ. Or explore new religions together with an open mind.

Make Spiritual Goals Part of Your Marriage

Pursuing spirituality as a team helps unite married couples through shared activities, values, and growth. Set aside time to determine meaningful spiritual goals, start with small manageable objectives, and review them regularly together.

Spiritual goals can enrich your connection, align your priorities, and help you support each other’s religious journeys. Learn here more about faith and marriage tips and guides.