"Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Devotional" (Les and Leslie Parrott)

TITLE: Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Devotional: 52 Meditations for Spiritual Intimacy
AUTHOR: Les and Leslie Parrott
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017, (272 pages).

This is a devotional book with a particular focus: Marriage Spirituality. It underscores the fundamental belief that marriage is tightly bound in our devotion to God. It is not just about being married but about the common ground of faith in God. Souls that are alive to God will naturally be alive to one another. All the 52 devotionals are aimed at anchoring couples in the Word of God and applying the Word into their marriages. The basic format is as follows:

• Opening Thought
• Passage from the Bible
• Reading and Discussion
• Spiritual Intimacy Exercises
• Prayer
• A Story or Testimony Illustration

There are many themes covered that affect marriages. Financial matters do threaten to bring anxiety into the relationship. With the Bible as a clear guide, couples are encouraged to look at their marriages from the eyes of God. On service, couples can look toward a "higher dignity and power" that when they serve one another, they are doing so in the service of God Almighty. We learn about the golden glue of all relationships: Forgiveness. Marriage is about togetherness not just in words but also in deeds. If married individuals learn to look and serve the other more than themselves, they not only fulfill the law of loving one another, they help bond the marriage with the glue of service. Other topics include:

• Learning to improve listening skills
• Supporting one another in activities that meet one another's deepest spiritual needs
• Learning to use tears to relieve stress
• Tackling fear and the need for affirmation
• Listening with the third ear
• Praying as a primary discipline
• Managing anger
• Willingly going the extra mile
• Clarifying what romance means for each person
• Recognizing the need to belong
• Incorporating Church into marital relationships
• How words can hurt/heal
• Humility in love
• The question that could change marriages
• .. and many more

This book is a collection of wise teachings about how we can improve and save our marriages. The contributors include Dan & Rebecca Allender; Keith & Charleen Anderson; Jeff & Alyssa Bethke; Pat & Shirley Boone; Stuart & Jill Briscoe; Gary & Carolyn Chapman; Chap & Dee Clark; Jeff & Shaunti Feldhahn; John & Nancy Ortberg; Gary & Lisa Thomas, and many more. With 52 chapters, one could even adopt a one chapter a week and cover the book in one year together!

I appreciate the wisdom behind many of the things shared. This devotional is definitely one that could bless all marriages both new and old. It brings together a lot of teachings and experiences that have been guided by the Word of God. Christian couples would benefit greatly.

Rating: 5 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Zondervan and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.