Spiritual growth plans keep couples in sync with each other as they work, parent, serve, play, or fulfill daily responsibilities. Couples who share prayers and devotions receive spiritual and emotional benefits by seeking godly wisdom together. When schedules do not match up couples can share his or her personal prayer requests, devotional readings or meditations to stay spiritually connected to each other.
2 Peter 2:5-8 is a seven step growth plan that offers couples an excellent opportunity to deepen their relationship with Jesus: But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (NKJV).
- Faith is a response to receiving grace from God (Eph. 2:8). Each person is given a measure of faith (Rom. 12:3).
- Adding virtue to faith can be described as integrity, honesty, or goodness, etc…
- Adding knowledge to virtue can be described as growing your understanding of Jesus, such as studying his words, miracles, or his divine nature.
- Adding self-control to knowledge can be fulfilled by establishing boundaries to guard your life from sinful or self-centered behaviors such as anger, alcohol, over-spending, over-eating, etc…
- Adding perseverance to self-control means being committed to overcome or bear up under trials or tribulations such as difficult relationships in your family, work place, or illness.
- Adding godliness to perseverance can be described as expressing reverence and gratitude for everyday benefits such as arriving at work safely, a warm home, food to eat, friendships, or employment. Gratitude and reverence shows that you are fully dependent on God for everything.
- Adding brotherly kindness to godliness means loving all of God’s children.
- Adding love to brotherly kindness means forming community and making room for other believers in your life.
Complete the following statements:
Faith – Identify an area of faith that has increased in your life such as, faith to believe, trust, forgiveness, or hope.
Virtue – Identify a virtue that you want to increase in your life such as integrity, honesty, etc…
Self-control – Identify an area of self-control that you want to increase in your life.
Perseverance – Identify an area of your life that needs perseverance (not giving up).
Godliness – Identify an area of your life where gratitude or reverence is needed.
Brotherly kindness – Identify someone who you can express acceptance or validation.
Love – Identify an area of your life that demonstrates your commitment to Christian community or how can you add an element of community to your life?