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List Price: $14.99
Our Price: $10.19
You Save: $ 4.80 (32%)
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Manufacturer: Zondervan
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 248
EAN: 9780310242826
ISBN: 0310242827
Label: Zondervan
Manufacturer: Zondervan
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: 2000-02-01
Publisher: Zondervan
Studio: Zondervan
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Editorial Reviews:
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Starting with the discovery that the goal of marriage goes beyond personal happiness, writer and speaker Gary Thomas invites readers to see how God can use marriage as a discipline and a motivation to love him more and reflect more of the character of his Son.
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Customer Rating:
Summary: By FAR the best book I have read on marriage
Comment: Gary deals squarely with the challenges of marriage that have made me feel paralyzed with "I-Can't-Do-This" fear, but then shows us the hope we have because of our life in Christ. I've never read another book on marriage that was so focused on the life Christ gives us and how God enables us through that.
Too many books I've read on marriage have felt like "12 Steps to Becoming the Perfect Spouse." I take a deep breath and then try to do them in my own strength, and...fail. This book points consistently to CHRIST as our enabler and brings our focus from being only on ourselves (what am I supposed to do?) to God (what is God doing through my marriage, what does He want to do in me?). Real change starts with focusing/depending on what God has done, which in turn allows God to change me. I've felt like too many books on marriage jumped straight to the "do" without examining the "done"--God's work--which is what enables me to "do" in the first place!
Excellent, excellent, excellent book. It will impact not just how you treat your spouse and view your marriage, but also how you view and depend on Christ in the rest of life. Highly recommended!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Life changing book
Comment: Whether you are single or married, you have to read this book. It is a life changer. It helps you better understand how to love your spouse and others. As a matter of fact, do what I'm doing: Read it twice, or you could say it's my third time because I also listened to the book on CD.
This book, more than anything else - although the movie Fireproof is awesome - helped me comprehend (more than understanding) the way to truly love my wife. I adore her after 31 years of marriage, and this book helped!
Wouldn't you love to be adoring your spouse? Spend less than $15 for this book and read it with an open mind. Then work on what you learn and over time you will enjoy the romance of your dreams. Buy this book and read it now!
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Summary: Even Guys will read this
Comment: Gary Thomas has done a great job with this book on marriage. It is not the typical "how to make your marriage better" book. It focuses on how your marriage should bring you closer to God. Even guys will want to read this book because he shoots straight. Pick up a copy. I use it in all my marriage counseling.
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Summary: A call to holiness
Comment: I have found this one of the most helpful books to give to marrieds and engaged folks. It largely avoids the complementarian/egalitarian debate (though it quotes one complementarian who is quite forceful in his views), focusing more on our heart attitudes. For that reason you can give it to a wide variety of people even if you're not really sure what their theology of marital roles is or even if they differ from your own. More than that, it presents wonderful challenges that all of us need; I think many marriage how-tos from either side of the evangelical spectrum really don't focus on the heart behind the decisions one makes in relating to the other and our roles. I think an honest look at the principles in this book would serve to temper folks' zeal about how they see marriage to work by bringing them to their knees in awe of the holy and awesome calling... in other words, to a place of humility where God can work on us and whatever assumptions or formulas we might bring to the table.
After prayerfully handing this book to one couple, I was told that they think I saved their marriage before it started. Now that's good to hear!
I have to say, however, that I relate very little to the woman whom Gary evaluates his reactions to (his own wife, who seems to fall into stereotypes in regards to emotions, desires, and so forth) or the pattern of marital sacrifices they've found themselves called to make for their particular marriage. And so that is a weakness to me. But the bottom line stuff is great as you think of ways to apply it to your own life--and relationships of all sorts within your life (I'm actually single). Because of its intimate reference to pretty much only one marriage and a fairly stereotypical if lovingly walked out one at that, many will find that it is best read along with other books--ones which do deal with the possible diversity of marital roles and callings for either the husband or wife--to which the same principles can be applied. I heartily recommend the book.
Btw, a favorite theology book on the gender topic is Dr. Sarah Sumner's "Men and Women in the Church: Building Consensus on Christian Leadership." To my utter delight in looking up the title of that book just now (my copy is perpetually on loan, so I don't have it sitting before me) I discovered that she and her husband just came out with a book on marriage this month. Yay!! I'm doing cartwheels in my mind at the thought. I hope it is as good as her previous books would indicate it will be.
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Summary: Interesting take on marriage, but for the most part helpful.
Comment: My women's group used this book to guide discussions on a weekly basis for about six months. The group contained women with kids, without kids, single, divorce, remarried, widowed, and with traditional marriages. Everyone got something out of the discussions that took place despite their current situation. The author uses a lot of examples to try to get points across. Some are better than others, but all were helpful in getting the discussion going. The one chapter we lingered on the longest was the chapter on sex in marriage. This book speaks plainly about a lot of issues that people deal with in marital relationships. The only weakness I can see is that in a marriage where the wife is a Christian and the husband is abusive or hostile towards Chrisitianity, the advice given could be more harmful than helpful - especially the one on serving. As long as the two people in marriage are relatively equal in regards to their care and concern for each other, the advice given should help their marriages tremendously. Overall, this was a fabulous attempt to conquer difficult subjects. No one can write something that will fit all situations, so this author did a great job reaching the majority of his readers.
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