“The purpose of my study is to provide counsellors, pastors, and mentors with current research that investigates how Christian couples experience transformation and work towards generative devotion in their faith and relationships.” - Georgia Jackett, Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology (2022)
Georgia Jackett, Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology (2022) student, explores how Christian couples experience transformation in the areas of spiritual well-being, marital quality, and emotional maturity. Her work will support the efforts of counsellors, pastors, and mentors by helping them better understand how Christian couples experience transformation and work towards generative devotion in their faith and relationships.
“The integration of faith and marriage is a dynamic area of research that is ready for deeper investigation in specific Christian communities. One way of studying this group of people is looking at how ‘generative devotion’ plays a role in the lives of couples,” says Jackett.
Jackett sees a strong need in society for greater insight into the lifelong journey of marriage:
“Unfortunately, many married couples go down the path of divorce, and the numbers show difficulties in Christian communities as well,” she says. “So my hope for this study is that it will support all of us who work to equip and empower Christian couples in their marriage.”
Jackett achieved her undergraduate degree at Providence College and University in Manitoba, where she was the recipient of The C.W. Hiebert Award for Graduate Studies, awarded to a graduand who shows outstanding promise for further studies and whom the faculty encourages to pursue graduate education.
Jackett credits her family for inspiring her to choose this topic of study, “My parents' and grandparents' flourishing marriages have been a huge inspiration for me as I pursue research regarding the relationship between faith and marriage.”
Relationships through stages of formation to sacrificial love
Jackett seeks to understand relationships throughout a lifetime, “My research question is: How is your spiritual well-being, emotional maturity, and quality of marriage being transformed into generative devotion as a Christian couple?”
“My desire is to have couples share their stories with me and to learn how each couple has gone through the stages of formation, maintenance, and transformation in the areas of spiritual growth, emotional maturity, and sacrificial love.”
How faith influences marriage
Jackett will also explore how faith impacts people’s view of their relationships, “Some Christian communities would say that their personal relationship with Jesus Christ plays an integral role in how they love their spouse and how they view the process of sanctification in their marriage.”
To investigate the integration of faith and marriage, Jackett intends to study married couples and to uncover how generative devotion plays a role in their life.
What is generative devotion?
“Devotion is a combination of love and profound commitment,” Jackett explains, “and for Christian couples who are emotionally, spiritually, and relationally healthy, their devotion to God and to each other can be a fundamental piece of their identity,” Jackett explains.
“Generative devotion attends to the long-term well-being of the family unit, and is completely relational in nature,” she says.
She illustrates, “For married Christian couples, some examples of generative devotion could be acts of sacrificial love, praying together, character refinement, or the process of sanctifying marriage.”
She concludes, “Most importantly, generative devotion is about the couple empowering each other as they devote themselves to God and to each other throughout life's journey.”
Jackett’s study is also inspired by a recent research article, “Generative Devotion: A Theory of Sacred Relational Care in Families of Faith,” by Dollahite, Marks, and Wurm (2019). Jackett will research how the principles from this previous study can be understood through their application within specific faith groups.
What leads to stable, long-lasting marriages?
Jackett shares that there are a number of factors that seem to lead to stability and longevity of marriage relationships.
She says, “Some studies show that a couples’ positive perceptions of a personal God can be associated with stronger marital connection, positive marital outcomes, and greater marital functioning.”
She admits, “Additional research is needed to further understand these connections between faith, emotions, and marital relationships.” Jackett hopes that her research will add to the wealth of knowledge on relationships and marriages, and increase our understanding of this key area of society.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students to find and fulfill their purpose in life. It is a fully accredited research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has five campuses: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, Ottawa, and Bellingham, WA. TWU emphasizes academic excellence, research, and student engagement in a vibrant faith community devoted to supporting vibrant leaders seeking to have a transformational impact on culture. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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