Spiritual Couple Goals for the New Year - Crosswalk Couples Devotional - January 1
Spiritual Couples Goals For the New Year
By: Amanda Idleman
Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
Diligence is a concept that I've been leaning into over the past few years. It is careful and persistent work or effort at something. Diligence isn't striving or stressing. It's a thought-out plan of action toward accomplishing certain goals in your life. Diligence is a vital component of maintaining a thriving Christian marriage.
The opposite of diligence is carelessness. It says we will get to that when we get to it, and when that logic is applied to marriage, we often find that our marriages become overlooked. While marriage is a sweet gift, it's also very easily put on the back burner as life grows fuller and fuller over time. Kids, jobs, sports, service, and other obligations can easily take precedence over loving our spouse well. If you've gotten stuck in a pattern of marriage neglect, the New Year is a wonderful time to apply diligence to your relationship.
The first step in establishing a plan of action towards the goals you want to work towards as a unit is to sit down and discuss what areas you'd like to grow spiritually and practically in as a couple.
My husband and I got married on December 29th; while in basically every practical way it is a terrible time to have an anniversary, it does lend to us connecting as we approach each year to assess and discuss what is on our hearts for the year to come. If you don't have an anniversary close to the New Year, you are smarter than us, but it is a great time to plan an annual "date" to review the year that passed and look ahead together into the year to come.
As you meet, lay out what you loved about your year as a couple and determine what areas you'd like to grow. Your strengths and growth areas make a wonderful starting point for creating goals. The things you excel at are things you should lean into. If you love praying together, continue diligently in daily shared prayers. If you both love serving, then be strategic about identifying key areas in which you want to serve your community together as a couple.
Growth areas may require extra work and care. If communication is a struggle, then making a plan to share better what's on your hearts on a weekly basis could be a good goal for you. Maybe you both struggle to learn God's Word. Choose a devotional to go through together. Be each other's accountability partners when growing in your faith.
Once you identify 2-3 areas you'd like to continue to excel and grow, pray over them and plan how you'd like to be diligent in finding abundance in these areas together. I enjoy writing, so I typically write down what we want to work on. Keep this list in a place you will likely revisit together regularly. A great place could be in your Bible, on your nightstand, or on your phone. Perfection is not the goal in this practice; we are working towards reaping a harvest of spiritual abundance in your marriages and home. Let's be careful to sow into the right things, not letting urgency steal our intentionality as a couple.
Let's Pray
Father, I thank you for honoring our heart's desires and our hands' work. Take our diligent, careful planning and effort and bring spiritual abundance to our homes. Let us lean into what we excel at and be careful to address the areas we need to grow. Give us wisdom on how to use our time. Help us clearly communicate what we see for our future and what we hear you calling us towards. Give us the strength to be intentional with our marriage. Help us to honor you with all that we do. Show us your ways and teach us your paths as a couple. We love you. Amen.
Related Resource: How to Make Your Prayer Habits Stick
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