Worship Together

　　By: Amanda Idleman

　　Editor’s Note:This devotional was written before the Covid-19 global outbreak. We hope that you can still take the principles of this devotional and apply it to your specific situation, no matter what worship looks like for you at the moment.

　　That is why I can never stop praising you; I declare your glory all day long. - Psalms 71:8 (NLT)

　　Worship should be more than a Sunday ritual. It should be a part of our daily lives. The act of worship fosters unity and joy in our relationship.

　　Nonetheless, learning how to worship together as a couple happens when we first make a commitment to attend a Sunday morning worship service at a local church. This is the place we see worship modeled by others and we are encouraged to keep up the practice in our day-to-day lives.

　　Hebrew 10:24-25 tells us we shouldn’t neglect or underestimate the power of meeting together with other believers. Your faith as a couple grows in the context of community. It’s when we rub shoulders with others that we gain the instruction and accountability we need to find maturity as Christians.

　　Even so, embracing the idea of worship as a seven-days-a-week activity means we have to do more than just church. What does worshipping together throughout the week look like?

　　It first looks like practicing daily gratitude. Worship is adoration to God for who he is and the many good gifts he gives us. We can’t praise God for what he has done, if we aren’t first paying attention to what he has gifted us.

　　Why not start and end each day by sharing things you are grateful for with your spouse. This is an amazing way to start the day on an uplifting note. It’s also a helpful way to connect and reflect when the day ends.

　　Nothing inspires worship more than creation itself! Isaiah 6:3 poetically proclaims that the whole earth is full of God’s glory. Just pausing to behold the sunset or sunrise is enough to humble your heart before the Lord. Not to mention pausing together to get outside is a great way to unplug and connect with each other in the midst of busy lives!

　　What about foregoing Netflix and opting for blasting your favorite worship tunes in your home? With technology, we have access to amazing God-inspired music that can help lift our spirits. If your musical, you could play and sing worship songs together or make it fun and dance it out to your favorite Christian tune. Let God’s presence fill your home through the power of music.

　　Serving as a couple is a great way to put our lives in proper perspective. Sometimes we are blind to how good God has been to us because we are so focused on the tiny details of our own lives. We fail to see how our lives compare in the big picture. Serving together gives you a mission that brings unity in your relationship.

　　Service helps push out selfishness and embrace a broader view of our circumstances. Surprisingly, the act of serving somehow always puts a smile on your faces. You never leave a service opportunity without gaining a little extra spring in your step.

　　Most importantly, take the time to think through each other’s gifts, dreams, and talents and strategize together on how you can best support one another in using them as worship unto the Lord. This sometimes takes sacrifice, but it doesn’t mean sacrificing your marriage for the sake of “ministry.” What it does mean is that we take a hard look at our lives together and see if there are places that we can replace the inevitable waste with finding our purpose in God’s Kingdom.

　　Don’t forget that marriages themselves are a great place to practice living a life of worship. Married life is not always easy but it’s a great space to die daily to ourselves and show love for God by following His commands to love others as He loves us. We are missing it if we raise our hands in praise on Sunday and then come home and neglect our marriages the rest of the week.

　　True worship starts in our homes. It’s the everyday choice as a couple to die daily to yourselves and follow God’s will for your lives together. It’s cultivating daily patterns that remind you both that you serve a great God. When we live lives with a Heaven-minded perspective our marriages reap the benefit of walking together with a God-inspired purpose and joy.

　　Amanda Idleman is a writer whose passion is to encourage others to live joyfully. She creates devotions for the Daily Bible Devotions App, she has work published with Her View from Home, is contributing to a couples devotional for Crosswalk, and is a regular contributor for the marriage/family/homeschool/parenting channels on Crosswalk.com. You can find out more about Amanda at rvahouseofjoy.com or follow her on Instagram at rvahouseofjoy.

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