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A Couple's Guide to a Growing Marriage
Do you have the marriage you want? What about the marriage God wants you to have? Marriage is meant to be the most intimate of human relationships, but for many couples this intimacy is only a dream. The Marriage You've Always Wanted Bible Study will help you make that dream a reality. So much more than a personal and group study, The Marriage You've Always Wanted Bible Study will teach you to share your life more fully with God, and as your relationship with God grows and deepens, so will your relationship as a couple.
Learn how to share yourself more fully with your spouse
¿ How to understand and be understood.
¿ How to express love.
¿ How to handle anger.
¿ How to resolve conflict.
As you spend personal time with God and share time with your spouse and perhaps a small group, you'll discover the sense of closeness, of knowing and being known, of understanding and being understood . . . you'll discover what marriage is all about.
Learn how to share yourself more fully with your spouse
¿ How to understand and be understood.
¿ How to express love.
¿ How to handle anger.
¿ How to resolve conflict.
As you spend personal time with God and share time with your spouse and perhaps a small group, you'll discover the sense of closeness, of knowing and being known, of understanding and being understood . . . you'll discover what marriage is all about.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
85 people are currently reading
407 people want to read
About the author
Gary Chapman
559 books3,464 followersGary Demonte Chapman is an American author and radio talk show host. Chapman is most noted for his The Five Love Languages series regarding human relationships.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 6, 2017
Read "His needs, her needs"or "for men only" "for women only" instead.
July 4, 2019
This is a great book for singles adults & teenagers. Why? First chapter deals with "the purpose and pitfalls of dating"
Second chapter "how to find a mate "
Third chapter " the goal of marriage "
I wish I had this book when I was a teenager... this book will place " reality " of marriage on singles & teens with romantic views on marriage !
Chapter six " communication in marriage " was very informative & educational for me
Each chapter has questions for ( both) For the Married & For the Unmarried.
Second chapter "how to find a mate "
Third chapter " the goal of marriage "
I wish I had this book when I was a teenager... this book will place " reality " of marriage on singles & teens with romantic views on marriage !
Chapter six " communication in marriage " was very informative & educational for me
Each chapter has questions for ( both) For the Married & For the Unmarried.
March 18, 2019
While the basic topics were good and gave my husband and me some talking points, the studies themselves were insultingly simplistic. I hope adults are the only ones doing this study since it's on marriage, but I had more thoughtful studies in high school. Most questions are some version of "restate this Bible verse in your own words," which encourages an irresponsible reading of Scripture and is discourteous to anyone with critical thinking skills. I could understand the simplicity if it was built for those new to the Christian faith, but it did not suppose any sort of growth over the chapters. Most of my conversations with my husband were on how to take the topics deeper since the chapters were so contumeliously basic. Do not recommend.
June 25, 2020
Toward A Growing Marriage offers some practical help for couples navigating married life. My eyes opened up to new insights that Dr. Chapman provides, all of which are Biblical and he has great seminars that offer the same.
November 3, 2021
The book was a good study, but the best part was being in community with five other couples working through the chapters. Thankful for faithful friends in life working towards building stronger marriages.
January 20, 2023
Great book
June 29, 2023
Excellent resource for a Godly, Christ-centered Marriage.
May 31, 2016
Many libraries won't buy devotionals, workbooks, etc. for one simple reason: their circ policies can't or won't accommodate the time a person would need to complete the book. On top of that, buying books you're supposed to write in is just entrapment. However, where there's demand for these kinds of materials, what can you do?
You'll have to work that out on your own time, but if you ultimately decide to buy stuff like this, and there's demand, picking this up would be fine. Chapman, a/k/a the "5 Love Languages" guy, has produced a Bible study for couples to use together, as well as with small groups within their church. At 12 weeks, the length of this study fits into most circ/renewal policies, and all you really have to worry about is the holds (monitor that and buy duplicate copies if necessary). The chapters are divided up into the sorts of things couples need to discuss --money, sex, listening, dealing with anger, communication, etc.--and consist of Bible readings, fill in the blank exercises, and activities the reader is meant to do with a partner.
One content issue with this text is the reading level, which is a bit simplistic; some adults may be insulted by the fill-in-the-blanks, which are written in such a way that you'd have to be completely mentally incapable not to get the right answer. Another problem is that so many topics are covered that the reader only gets surface advice on each one, much of it common sense. This is softened somewhat by the resource guide in the back, but if the only thing you get out of a book is "go look at these other books," that's a problem...especially if they include Chapman's other books, adding an element of sales technique to a Bible study, which just seems wrong/weird.
Then again, the target audience may not care about these details: this book promises to do a thing and then does that thing, so there you go (each reader their book). Purchase where there is demand, name recognition, or both.
You'll have to work that out on your own time, but if you ultimately decide to buy stuff like this, and there's demand, picking this up would be fine. Chapman, a/k/a the "5 Love Languages" guy, has produced a Bible study for couples to use together, as well as with small groups within their church. At 12 weeks, the length of this study fits into most circ/renewal policies, and all you really have to worry about is the holds (monitor that and buy duplicate copies if necessary). The chapters are divided up into the sorts of things couples need to discuss --money, sex, listening, dealing with anger, communication, etc.--and consist of Bible readings, fill in the blank exercises, and activities the reader is meant to do with a partner.
One content issue with this text is the reading level, which is a bit simplistic; some adults may be insulted by the fill-in-the-blanks, which are written in such a way that you'd have to be completely mentally incapable not to get the right answer. Another problem is that so many topics are covered that the reader only gets surface advice on each one, much of it common sense. This is softened somewhat by the resource guide in the back, but if the only thing you get out of a book is "go look at these other books," that's a problem...especially if they include Chapman's other books, adding an element of sales technique to a Bible study, which just seems wrong/weird.
Then again, the target audience may not care about these details: this book promises to do a thing and then does that thing, so there you go (each reader their book). Purchase where there is demand, name recognition, or both.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews