Strengthening Your Marriage Book

This is between 3 and 4 stars...

The chapters themselves I would rate as 3 stars with the discussion questions being 4 stars...Explained below.

In my case, I read it alone. The chapters themselves aren't very interesting. The author points out a specific point regarding marriage, such as the purpose of it or the role of each individual, and backs up his reasoning with Bible verses. He does write out the verses, which is nice. I do appreciate that he is backing up what he says with verses but the fact that the majority of the chapters are just that makes it a boring read. I could just as easily look at the back of my own Bible, select a topic, and then scroll through the verses. Where is the added substance? The author adds little practical advice, leaving me feel as if I'm not learning anything new from him, regarding marriage or the Bible. (If you are a new Christian, it may be more interesting and you could learn about the concept of marriage through the book, but again, just as you can through the Bible.)

That being said, after each chapter, he gives quite a lot of questions that can be used on your own, or with your spouse. The idea is to do them together. Some were very topical while others really stood out as unique questions that made me ponder certain aspects of our marriage and consider our strengths and weaknesses. I also found that some areas really convicted me...like those questioning my own role as a wife and how closely I am following the Bible in my own home. It can be emotionally hard to recognize that we often fall out of line with the Bible's expectations and into the world's expectations instead. The author even challenges us to get into a deep discussion with one another and see how each of us struggle, need growth, and can help one another. Many of these questions, I believe, could really help a couple and going through this book could bring two people closer spiritually and emotionally.

I highly recommend reading this with your spouse, if possible. I think any reader would gain a lot more from it from doing so.