The SYMBIS Assessment PlanPrøve

Dynamics: Spirituality As you review the list of spiritual practices on this page of your SYMBIS report, we want to highlight one in particular: serving others together. Few things can cultivate more intimacy than reaching out to the world as a team. Doing good for others as a couple – adding value to their lives – brings a mystical quality into your own relationship. It helps you transcend yourselves and become part of something larger. God is committed to one major objective: Helping us conform to the image of his Son (see Phil. 2:5-11). And his Son, scripture says, came not to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45). It is as straight forward as that. God wants us to be a giving people. As we saw in our last reading, Philippians 2:4 says, “look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Galatians 5:13 puts it this way, “serve one another in love.” The value of service, underscored in scripture, is tough to ignore. So as we wrap up this reading plan to accompany your SYMBIS Report, we want to make something plain: your eventual marriage is a great means to becoming more like Christ. How? We like the way Paul says it: “by spurring one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24). Marriage helps us do that and when we join our efforts in service together we are doubly blessed. There are literally hundreds of ways to incorporate shared service into your marriage — offering hospitality in your home, volunteering at a shelter, sponsoring a needy child, working in the church nursery. The key is to find something that fits your personal style as a couple. One of the ways we enjoy reaching out as a couple is to do something anonymously. Even something small. It is an act of kindness that is concealed from everyone but the two of us. Our own sense of devotion and intimacy deepens as we secretly observe the results of our service. So read this passage and discuss ways you can begin serving others as a couple. For a weekly dose of encouragement for your marriage, check out Les & Leslie’s blog, Devotion, at http://www.lesandleslie.com