Marriage as a Spiritual Discipline: Principles and Benefits

Christians use spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, and journaling as methods to enhance their relationship with God. However, Christian rates of divorce are not different than the United States average where more than one in three first marriages ends in divorce. This is despite a Christian belief that marriage is a special relationship. The rate of divorce among Christians should be reduced. Marriage can be practiced as a spiritual discipline that will benefit the relationship as well as yielding sought after spirituality. Marriage as a spiritual discipline would help couples increase marital satisfaction, thus driving down the divorce rate. A survey on marriage attitudes and needs given to random adults will expose areas of marital agreement and discord. Principles of practicing marriage as a spiritual practice can be shown through survey, case studies, and analysis of existing data