Day 13: to a Great Marriage - Worship Together

After yesterday Day 12 -- Take the Day Off, it's time to turn to a subject you may or may not embrace at first, because you may think of yourself as a 'non-religious person.' But, before you pass over today's suggestion please consider this...Couples that worship together have happier, longer marriages.

So, today's suggestion for a Great Marriage is to...

DAY 13: TO A GREAT MARRIAGE - Worship Together
Just look at these statistics:

#1 - According to Sociologist Brad Wilcox...

"Based on my earlier research, evangelical women tend to be happier in their marriages than other women, particularly when both the wife and the husband attend church on a regular basis. This idea that Christians are just as likely to divorce as secular folks is not correct if we factor church attendance into our thinking. Churchgoing evangelical Protestants, churchgoing Catholics, and churchgoing mainline Protestants are all significantly less likely to divorce. . . . between 35 and 50 percent less likely than Americans who attend church just nominally, just once or twice a year, or who don't attend church at all. It is true that people who say they've had a born-again experience are about as likely to divorce as people who are completely secular. But if you look at this through the lens of church attendance, you see a very different story."

 

#2 - Couples who say that “God is the center of our marriage,” are 26 percent more likely than all other Christians to claim to be “Very Happy” in marriage = 76% of husbands and 77% of wives. And only 1% claim a 'proneness' toward divorce.

Click here for bigger view

#3 - According to Christianity Today...

"The 'How's the Family?' report from the Evangelical Alliance also found that Christians were highly likely to accept outside help and advice to keep their marriages healthy. Over half of the married evangelicals surveyed had taken part in formal marriage preparation, while 29 per cent had sought help in their marriage, with the top three reasons being communication difficulties, infidelity, and sexual problems. Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical Alliance, said, “Families aren’t always easy to live with but Christians do seem to have a high level of commitment to making them work. The message this research gives us is that most Christian couples refuse to simply walk away from relationships when they get tough. They are not afraid to seek help from professionals and advice from their church, family and friends. Christian marriages are not perfect but they show fewer signs of following the cultural trend of giving up and separating." (read the rest)

 Well, there you have it.

And for the record, the statistics that say Christians have the same divorce rate as non-religious people represent those who say they are Christians; whereas these stats show that couples who have God in the center of their lives...they have happier and successful marriages.

So, beginning this week...worship together...at least once a week. You'll be able to judge the tree, whether it is good or not, by its fruit in your lives.