Chapman, bestselling author of The Five Love Languages
and other books on relationships, here addresses the components of a healthy, Christ-centered marriage. A strong marriage, he contends, cannot be built on a "contract" basis (i.e., a temporary arrangement where one partner does X if the other does Y), but should instead be a "covenant" between both partners. Drawing on biblical precedent, he explains that a covenant is unconditional, permanent and initiated for the benefit of the other person, not oneself. Maintaining a covenant relationship also demands appropriate confrontations and the extension of forgiveness. Chapman candidly shares his own experiences of moving with his wife from a pain-filled, bitter "contract" marriage to a mutually satisfying "covenant" marriage, acknowledging the difficulty of this transformation. Evangelical readers will appreciate this frank, biblically sound perspective on marriage. (Sept. 15)
