Spiritual Intimacy

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Spiritual Intimacy
Enhancing the Soul Connection
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Spirituality Is Part of the Vertical Aspect of
Strong Blessed Marriage

• Horizontal
• Friends Lovers
• Friendship
• Passion

• Vertical
• Partners in Purpose
• Commitment
• Purpose

Purpose
Marital Love
Friendship
Passion
Commitment
Adapted from Robert Sternbergs Triangle Theory
of Love
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Love for a Higher Purpose Deepens Closeness

• Loving the same purpose
• Fortifies respect and sense of security

Sharing faith can be like sharing parents
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Religious Practices Strengthen Marriage and
Family Life
Best results come from discussing and practicing
spiritual beliefs at home 1. Promotes moral
behavior and forgiveness 2. Provides a
family-oriented social network 3. Brings a sense
of meaning and purpose to life, which increases
resilience to stress  4. Helps children to
perform better at school 5. Boosts personal
happiness, mental and physical health, long life
and achieving goals
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Benefits of Religion for Couples

• More beneficial than a shared faith
• Shared sense of higher meaning to their marriage
• What they do together to act upon their faith

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Spiritual Closeness Is a Common Challenge in
Marriage

• 1. Many couples struggle to find a shared way
• To relate to God and spiritually grow together
• 2. Conflict of styles is common
• One favored path to God may be opposite of
  spouses
• Easy to judge the mates way as inferior

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How Is Praying Together Beneficial? How Might It
Be Challenging?
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Praying Together Is Beneficial Challenging
Benefits
Challenges

• Invites God to intervene in our marriage
• Strengthens our sense of shared purpose and
  ideals
• Helps us gain Gods view of our marriage
• Softens our heart and exposes it to our mate

• Can be hard to be so vulnerable, especially when
  there are tensions
• Differences of prayer styles
• Hard to make time

Hoon Dok Hae is similar
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There Are Many Different Spiritual Types
Adapted from Myra Perrine, God Languages
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19 Paths to Spiritual Growth Closeness I
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19 Paths to Spiritual Growth Closeness II
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19 Paths to Spiritual Growth Closeness III
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19 Paths to Spiritual Growth Closeness IV
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Making Spiritual Harmony

• 1. Find one or more spiritual paths that can be
  shared as a couple
• One of the partners ways or a third way
• 2. Focus on common values and ideals
• God
• Truth, Beauty, Goodness, Justice or True Love
• 3. Shared service is powerful

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Faith Differences or Personal Faith Struggles
Come Up at Times

• Life events can highlight faith
• Death and crisis
• Church changes
• Children
• 1. Faith becomes especially important
• 2. Or it can be challenged
• Bring out personal weaknesses and marital
  differences

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What to Do If Your Spouse Struggles in their
Faith?

• This can be threatening

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Consider How Your Spouse Might Feel

• Imagine you are the more religious one in your
  couple.
• Now imagine your spouse has suddenly become
  twice as religious as you are. You are now the
  unspiritual one, holding them and children back
  from knowing and serving God more, the selfish
  one who is never good enough. How do you feel?

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When One Spouse Struggles in Faith

• Faith fluctuates over time
• 1. Faith needs to be reexamined at times so it
  can mature
• Need freedom to doubt and struggle
• 2. Try to honor your mates legitimate effort to
  keep their integrity
• God will work through a genuine search for truth
• Modeling Gods acceptance and faith in them is a
  testimony to your faith

Whether you are destined for heaven or hell is
not determined by your doctrines and
perspectives but by your daily life. Father
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Important Blessed Family Traditions

• 1. Sanctifying the First Night
• Like 3-day Ceremony
• 2. Sanctifying births of children
• Prayer support at birth with 3 people and birth
  candle
• Grateful offering at 8 days
• 3. Family Worship and study
• Learning Gods Word (HDH)
• Family Pledge
• Sunday Service
• Tithing

• 4. Living with God True Parents
• Prominent photos,
• Prayer place
• 5. Sanctifying birthdays
• Parents Blessing
• 6. Celebrating Holy Days
• Pledge and offerings
• 7. Preparing children for Matching

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Traditions Prioritizing Family

• Meals together
• Couple date nights
• Holiday celebration
• Games and family activities
• Vacation activities

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Deepen Spiritual Oneness

• 1. Commit to growing in personal spiritual
  maturity
• Keep adjusting to each other as you grow

• 2. Commit to nourish the spiritual basis of your
  marriage
• Maintain regular traditions
• 3. Commit to greater service to God and the world

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Tool Sharing Spiritual Paths

1. Consider these spiritual paths
2. Mark your favorites
3. Guess your mates favorites
4. Mark which ones you might share

• Study
• Pray
• Mentor others
• Be mentored
• Celebrate
• Tithe
• Make music
• Care for nature
• Worship
• Observe traditions

• Be in small groups
• Fast
• Serve greater causes
• Assist spirit world
• Meditation
• Fight injustice
• Be creative
• Share intimacy
• Care for others

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