{"id":32560,"date":"2022-09-10T16:14:20","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/want-a-happy-relationship-go-to-church-together\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:14:20","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:14:20","slug":"want-a-happy-relationship-go-to-church-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/want-a-happy-relationship-go-to-church-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Want a Happy Relationship? Go to Church Together"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Aaron Earls<\/em><\/p>\n

If you really want a romantic date this Valentine\u2019s Day, instead of going to a fancy restaurant, you might think about taking your spouse to church on Sunday.<\/p>\n

A study released by the Institute of Family Studies (IFS) found that couples who regularly go to church together report higher levels of happiness than those who don\u2019t. More than 3 in 4 regular church-attending couples (78 percent) say they are \u201cvery happy\u201d or \u201cextremely happy\u201d in their relationship.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cBy contrast,\u201d write study authors W. Bradford Wilcox and Nicholas Wolfinger, \u201c67 percent of men and women in relationships where neither partner attends are happy, and just 59 percent of people in couples where only she attends regularly report they are very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is consistent with research from sociologist Brad Wright who found that while the overall divorce rate may be higher in evangelical heavy states, couples who actually attend church are less likely to be divorced.<\/p>\n

He found 6 in 10 evangelicals who never attend church had been divorced or separated, compared to 38 percent of weekly attendees.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Lifeway Research also found a link between decreased church attendance and divorce. Three months before their separation, 7 in 10 regular churchgoers who divorce are attending church once a week or more. For those in healthy marriages, the rate is 87 percent.<\/p>\n

Interestingly enough, the IFS study found a man attending by himself is statistically as beneficial to the happiness of the couple as both attending\u201478 percent for both.<\/p>\n

The researchers aren\u2019t entirely sure why a man\u2019s solo attendance is linked to a better relationship outcome, but they give several possibilities as to why that may be the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps women who are highly religious are more likely to look for spiritual communion with their partners than devout men, and to be disappointed when it is not forthcoming,\u201d write Wilcox and Wolfinger. I<\/p>\n

t might also be that men are especially likely to benefit from the religious instruction to care for their spouse and remain faithful. Finally, church attendance may increase a woman\u2019s expectations of her partner\u2019s behavior, and when these expectations are not met by her less devout spouse, the relationship suffers.<\/p>\n

That supports the contention of researcher Jennifer Glass who says marriages between evangelical women and non-evangelical men are among the most likely to result in divorce, \u201cThose marriages have a particularly high risk of divorce,\u201d she says, \u201cwe believe because of clashing expectations of how husbands and wives should behave.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
See also  7 Aspects of Healthy Church Leadership<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Digging deeper into their research for IFS, Wilcox and Wolfinger found two aspects of attending church together that may contribute to the overall happiness of a couple\u2014sharing friends at the congregation and praying together.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

More than three-quarters of those who shared religious friends (76 percent) report happy relationships, compared to 65 percent of those who don\u2019t have those other relationships.<\/p>\n

Praying together is even more likely to be connected to a happy couple. Seventy-eight percent of couples who pray together almost every week or more report being very or extremely happy. Only 61 percent of those who don\u2019t pray together that often report the same type of happiness.<\/p>\n

The researchers suggest it may be that joint prayer brings a higher sense of \u201cemotional intimacy, communication, and reflection about relationship priorities and concerns, and a sense of divine involvement in one\u2019s relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, prayer was a stronger predictor of happiness than any other religious factor. \u201cIt is also a better predictor of relationship quality than race, education, age, sex, or region,\u201d write Wilcox and Wolfinger. \u201cCouples who pray together often are much happier than those who do not.\u201d<\/p>\n

In summing up their study, the researchers write, \u201cJoint attendance seems to connect men and women to networks of friends who are living family-centered lives, and is also associated with a spiritually intimate behavior: praying together.\u201d<\/p>\n

They assert that what we\u2019ve all heard may, in fact, be true: \u201cThe couple that prays together stays together.\u201d<\/p>\n

For other research-based tips on developing a happy marriage, Shaunti Feldhahn who shared what she called \u201csurprising secrets of highly happy marriages.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Aaron Earls<\/h2>\n

@WardrobeDoor<\/p>\n

\n

Aaron is a writer for LifewayResearch.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n