The Five Love Languages: Men's Edition: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate Book

Of the many practical marriage books which give suggestions for improving your marriage relationship, I've found the Five Love Languages books quite helpful. Learn how your spouse receives love, and learn to show your love to her in those ways. This book even moves a step closer to the heart of the issue, which many marriage books don't, by making clear that learning to love your spouse like this is a sacrificial and costly choice to put the other person first.

(Some broader reflections: The book still doesn't resolve the ultimate issue in marriage - since my spouse can never meet my needs perfectly, how is it possible for me to continue to love them with a lifetime of sacrificial and costly love? This is why I recommend books about the meaning of Christian marriage before I recommend more 'practical' marriage books. The key gospel insight is that we can only lay down our lives for our spouses because Jesus has laid down his life for us. Tim Keller's The Meaning of Marriage was the book which most helped me understand this: "Do for your spouse what God has done for you in Jesus, and the rest will take care of itself." The Five Love Languages, which isn't a Christian book in any meaningful way, doesn't get to the heart of this issue.)

Nonetheless, I've found the love language concept a helpful way to grow in understanding my wife, and learning to love her better, and reading this men's version has encouraged and reminded me a number of ways I can keep growing in this. The "for men" concept is well executed ' I think it would help men who don't often read to get through the book.