Making Marriage Beautiful


I'll be honest - I read a LOT of marriage books. Each one promises something unique and different, and each one is written from a different point of view or theological standpoint. However, many (most?) marriage books rehash the same topics and same solutions over and over again. I wasn't sure what to expect from Dorothy Littell Greco's new book, Making Marriage Beautiful: Lifelong Love, Joy, And Intimacy Start With You, but it sounded like it might be new and different, so I wanted to give it a try. The back cover says:

"What makes a marriage beautiful? Honesty? Compatibility? Physical and emotional intimacy? All of these are important, but there’s one component that determines the quality and longevity of a marriage more than anything else: a willingness to grow.

Because a wedding joins together two imperfect people, all couples experience disappointment, conflict, and pain. How husbands and wives respond to these challenges determines the kind of people they will become and the kind of marriage they will have.

Making Marriage Beautiful reveals how the pursuit of Christ results in profound transformation for both the individual and the marriage. Rather than offering clichés and formulas, Greco relies on candor, humor, and real life stories to bring encouragement and wisdom to all couples, regardless of whether they have been married four weeks or forty years."

Making Marriage Beautiful has to be one of the most unique marriage books I've ever read. In fact, it's nothing like any other marriage book I've read. Instead of offering the same tired, pat cliches, or the same old recycled advice, Dorothy not only provides a fascinating, personal look into her own marriage to her husband, Christopher, she practically rewrites the genre. Dorothy focuses on growth - the growth of yourself first and foremost, because in a marriage (or in life in general), no matter how hard you try, you can only change yourself. She also touches on some surprising subjects that I've never seen discussed in a marriage book, such as racism and multiculturalism. I'm white/European and my husband is Mexican, so the chapter on how clashing cultures can affect a marriage was especially helpful for me. I'd never really thought about it before - how our wildly different cultural backgrounds growing up affect our marriage today. I really needed the wakeup call that moralizing my cultural preferences is not helpful and to look at things with a less biased point of view. I highly recommend this book to every married couple. It is truly excellent.

I received a copy of this book from Litfuse in order to provide an honest and unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

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