Over the weekend, I had 3 fabulous ideas for today’s posts. However, I failed to write any of them down, and they left me. Tonight, as the hubby and I were walking around the neighborhood, I asked him for a post idea. He suggested 1,000 reasons I love my husband. With #1 being that he is hot. And #2 being…well…we just aren’t going to get into what number 2 was.

In lieu of boring you with 998 MORE reasons that I love my husband, I decided to share with you our

10 Must Read Marriage Books

10. Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts by Les and Leslie Parrott along the his and her workbooks. Michael and I did this study before we were married, and it really made us think through some important issues (chores, finances, children, discipline, expectations, etc.) before tying the knot.

9. When Sinners Say “I Do” by Dave Harvey provides a realistic picture of what you are getting into with marriage. As the title suggests, both parties in marriage are sinners. We need to acknowledge that. I highly recommend this as a read for premarital counseling or early in marriage.

8. Sex Begins in the Kitchen by Kevin Leman acknowledges that emotional intimacy is required in order to have a fulfilling sex life, therefore sex actually starts way before anyone gets physical. Kevin is really funny. Most men would enjoy his books.

7. Sheet Music by Kevin Leman focuses more directly on the sexual relationship. Michael and I read this one together early in our marriage. We would read a chapter a night and then “practice” {blush}. This was his top suggestion for the list.

6. Men and Women, Equal Yet Different by Alexander Strauch carefully examines the biblical passages on manhood and womanhood and roles in marriage from a complementarian perspective (just as the title says, men and women are equal yet created to fulfill different roles most notably the man as the leader of the home). I believe it’s important for each partner in the marriage relationship to have a Biblical understanding of their role.

5. The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman presents 5 different ways that individuals receive and show love. There are inventories to help you determine what your style is. I suggest this with a warning: this is a guide only. No person fits perfectly into any mold. Study your spouse rather than the book. Figure out what their tendencies are but be flexible. Above all, listen to and love your spouse.

4. God, Marriage, and Family (Second Edition) by Andreas Kostenberger and David Jones covers a wealth of topics on marriage and family from Biblical roles, children, birth control, infertility, homosexuality, divorce and the list goes on. This is an excellent resource to get you started on a theological background for all topics marriage and family.

3. Quiet Times for Couples by H. Norman Wright provides a short devotional with Scripture passages and conversation starting questions each day for couples to read together. Michael and I have this, but haven’t used it consistently. The topics apply to marriage but are not strictly marriage issues. Various theological and spiritual topics are covered. The idea is to grow together spiritually–not necessarily work on your marriage (which of course is a natural by-product) if that makes any sense at all.

2. Love & Respect by Emmerson Eggrichs takes a close look at the mandate in Ephesians 5 for husbands to love their wives and wives to respect their husbands. It’s been awhile sinece I’ve read this one, but I remember really liking it and finding lots of practical application.

1. The Bible. DUH! You didn’t think I was gonna get through a whole post without mentioning it, did you? Seriously, though. The best way to improve your relationship with your spouse is by improving your relationship with God–which is done primarily by studying His Word. Our sermon Sunday talked about how we must looks to God to fulfill our deepest needs for love rather than our spouse. When our “love bucket” is full from our relationship with God, then we are equipped to meet our spouses needs–to “top them off” if you will–because hopefully they too are filling their bucket in their relationship with the Lord. Check out the sermon here. Read another article on this topic here.

I hope you found something useful here! What would you add to the list? Share in the comments!

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On Your Heart
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Teach Me Tuesday
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Photo Credit: Amanda Nicole Betley

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