The most recommended Christian marriage books

Who picked these books? Meet our 25 experts.

25 authors created a book list connected to Christian marriage, and here are their favorite Christian marriage books.
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Book cover of The Power of a Praying Wife

Brittany Coburn Author Of Pray Together: A 6 Week Couples Prayer Guide

From my list on how to build a strong Christian relationship.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Christian author who loves to see when relationships, rooted in Christ, succeed. I have been married for 13 years and during that time we have had ups and downs and have found that our relationship would have never succeeded if it wasn’t for Christ and being grounded in his truths. I have sought out ways to cultivate healthy a marriage and often find myself studying and reading on how to best have our relationship reflect Christ and his love for the church. 

Brittany's book list on how to build a strong Christian relationship

Brittany Coburn Why did Brittany love this book?

This book has been a staple in my marriage. On the days when I am tired or need a reminder that my husband is, first and foremost, a child of God, I go back to this book.

Stormie’s prayers are so eloquently written and cover things that, early on, I would have never thought to pray for my husband. I have seen my marriage transform because of the prayers in this book. 

By Stormie Omartian,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Power of a Praying Wife as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

MORE THAN 10 MILLION COPIES SOLD

God Can Work Powerfully Through a Praying Wife

Today's challenges can make a fulfilling marriage seem like an impossible dream. Yet God delights in doing the impossible if only we would ask! Stormie Omartian shares how God can strengthen your marriage as you pray for your husband concerning key areas in his life, including...

his spiritual walk his emotions his role as a leader his security in work his physical protection his faith and his future

You will be encouraged by Stormie's own experiences, along with the Bible verses and sample prayers included in…


Book cover of The Madness of Grief: A Memoir of Love and Loss

James Withey Author Of How to Get to Grips with Grief: 40 Ways to Manage the Unmanageable

From my list on to get to grips with grief.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm the author of the best-selling books How to Tell Depression to Piss Off: 40 Ways to Get Your Life BackHow to Tell Anxiety to Sod Off: 40 Ways to Get Your Life Back, The Recovery Letters, and What I Do to Get Through. My sixth book will be, How to Smash Stress: 40 Ways to Manage the Unmanageable.

James' book list on to get to grips with grief

James Withey Why did James love this book?

He describes the death of his partner from alcoholism and the events leading up to it in an unflinchingly honest and moving way. It's raw and personal but that's what grief is. It's beautiful and respectful and shows how grief is both a shared experience and so completely individual at the same time. 

By Richard Coles,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Madness of Grief as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'Immensely moving and disarmingly witty' Nigella Lawson
'Such a moving, tough, funny, raw, honest read' Matt Haig
'Beautifully written, moving and gut-wrenching, but also at times very funny' Ian Rankin
'Captures brilliantly, beautifully, bravely the comedy as well as the tragedy of bereavement' The Times
'Will strike a chord with anyone who has grieved' Independent

Whether it is pastoral care for the bereaved, discussions about the afterlife, or being called out to perform the last rites, death is part of the Reverend Richard Coles's life and work. But when his partner the Reverend David Coles died,…


Book cover of A Cry for Justice: How the Evil of Domestic Abuse Hides in Your Church

Caroline Abbott Author Of A Journey Through Emotional Abuse: From Bondage to Freedom

From my list on being emotionally abused.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was in an emotionally abusive marriage for 20 years but didn’t realize what was happening to me. I tried to twist myself into a perfectly shaped pretzel to make my husband happy. It didn’t work. Reading some of these books gave me the courage to seek a restraining order and divorce my husband. Since then, I became a domestic violence advocate, author, blogger, and mental health counselor. 

Caroline's book list on being emotionally abused

Caroline Abbott Why did Caroline love this book?

When I was in the process of leaving my abusive husband, I sought help from my church. Sadly, my pastors had no idea what they were dealing with. Instead of helping me, they sided with my abuser. This book, written by a pastor, helps churches understand the evil that abusers perpetrate, and how they can and should help the abused partner.

By Jeff Crippen, Anna Wood,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Cry for Justice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Abuse in the Church of Jesus Christ!

In many Christian circles this may be a taboo subject--spoken of in hushed tones or behind closed doors. But it is a very real problem that must be brought into the light of Scripture.

Abuse in the church takes different forms; but it is alive and active even in "nice" families in our churches. Typically, the abuser is male, usually a husband--and his character is that of a manipulating deceiver. Countless women and children--even many faithful pastors--have been abused by these deceivers.

Have you, or someone you know, been a victim? Has an…


Book cover of God, the Devil, and Divorce: A Transformative Journey out of Emotional and Spiritual Abuse

Sonia Frontera Author Of Relationship Solutions: Effective Strategies to Heal Your Heart and Create the Happiness You Deserve

From my list on freeing you from the pain of a toxic relationship.

Why am I passionate about this?

Sonia Frontera is a divorce lawyer with a heart. She is the survivor of a toxic marriage who is now happily remarried. Sonia integrates the wisdom acquired through her personal journey, her professional experience and the lessons of the world’s leading transformational teachers and translates it into guidance that is insightful and practical. Through the years, Sonia has supported domestic violence survivors as an advocate, speaker, and empowerment trainer.

Sonia's book list on freeing you from the pain of a toxic relationship

Sonia Frontera Why did Sonia love this book?

Divorce is a devastating experience, especially where ending a marriage is viewed as a separation, not only from your spouse, but from your church as well. In God, the Devil and Divorce, Linda M. Kurth shares her personal divorce journey in spite of the opposition of her community of faith to escape the pain of an abusive marriage. She emerges triumphantly as a trailblazer for Christian women enduring spousal abuse, offering hope and reassuring them that life goes on—and happily. 

By Linda M. Kurth,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked God, the Devil, and Divorce as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

God, The Devil, and Divorce tells the story of a Christian woman's marriage and divorce recovery from her "crazymaking" spouse; and how she learned to trust God along the way.

How could Linda Moore Kurth's marriage that once seemed so right become so wrong? Put-downs, shaming, and distancing grow into habitual emotional abuse. Counseling provides glimmers of hope, only for that hope to fade. She is shocked when her latest Christian counselor tells her, "If you divorce, Satan wins."

Linda receives a dichotomy of reactions from other Christians for her ultimate decision to leave her marriage. Betrayal and heartache bring…


Book cover of Fragments of Light

Elizabeth Musser Author Of By Way of the Moonlight

From my list on time-slip with present day and WWII protagonists.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a Southern girl from Atlanta who writes ‘entertainment with a soul’ from my writing chalet—tool shed—outside Lyon, France where my husband and I have worked with a non-profit for over 30 years. I love to incorporate little-known historical facts into my award-winning and best-selling contemporary, historical, and time-slip fiction. I want my reader to find not only a good story and an interesting plot, but also the soul in my book and in my characters with themes of betrayal, regret, redemption, forgiveness, and faith that allow my reader to think, to ask questions, to laugh and cry and hope. To be entertained way down in her soul. 

Elizabeth's book list on time-slip with present day and WWII protagonists

Elizabeth Musser Why did Elizabeth love this book?

When Ceelie, reeling from everything cancer has stolen from her, sets out to track down her ailing friend’s father, who disappeared decades ago, she uncovers a story of faith, heroism, and heartbreak dating back to the Normandy beaches in World War II—and finds her own life transformed.

Michele Phoenix does it again in Fragments of Light. With prose that takes your breath away, she expertly navigates two time periods while exploring themes of loss, love, forgiveness, regret, and redemption. And France! What could be better! These themes often populate my novels and Michele’s novel was an inspiration for me.

By Michele Phoenix,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Fragments of Light as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An impossible decision in the chaos of D-Day.

Ripples that cascade seventy-five years into the present.

And two lives transformed by the tenuous resolve to reach out of the darkness toward fragments of light.

Cancer stole everything from Ceelie-her peace of mind, her selfimage, perhaps even her twenty-three-year marriage to her college sweetheart, Nate. Without the support of Darlene, her quirky elderly friend, she may not have been able to endure so much loss.

So when Darlene's own prognosis turns dire, Ceelie can't refuse her seemingly impossible request-to find a WWII paratrooper named Cal, the father who disappeared when Darlene…


Book cover of Love and Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs

Scott LaPierre Author Of Your Marriage God's Way: A Biblical Guide to a Christ-Centered Relationship

From my list on Christian marriage (from the author of a best-selling Christian marriage book).

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the teaching pastor of Woodland Christian Church, and in 2016, I published a best-selling marriage book, Your Marriage God's Way, with an accompanying workbook. Soon after that, I began receiving invitations to put on marriage conferences across the nation. My experience teaching on marriage, performing marriage counseling, and meeting so many married couples has given me a strong biblical understanding of marriage.

Scott's book list on Christian marriage (from the author of a best-selling Christian marriage book)

Scott LaPierre Why did Scott love this book?

Dr. Emerson Eggerichs has been helping couples have happier, healthier marriages by teaching husbands how to love their wives as Ephesians 5:25 commands, and by teaching wives how to respect their husbands as Ephesians 5:33 commands.

Despite what the world says today, men and women are different and they have different, not just desires, but needs. The book also contains testimonies of transformed marriages. Husbands and wives will learn principles for talking to, thinking about, and treating each other biblically. 

By Emerson Eggerichs,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Love and Respect as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A New York Times best-selling marriage book making a difference! More than one million copies sold!

Based on over three decades of counseling, as well as scientific and biblical research, Dr. Emerson Eggerichs and his wife, Sarah, have already taken the Love & Respect message across America and are changing the way couples talk to, think about, and treat each other. What do you want for your marriage? Want some peace? Want to feel close? Want to feel valued? Want to experience marriage the way God intended? Then why not try some Love and Respect.

A wife has one driving…


Book cover of Marriage: Sex in the Service of God

Harry Schaumburg Author Of Undefiled: Redemption from Sexual Sin, Restoration for Broken Relationships

From my list on to survive and recover from marital unfaithfulness.

Why am I passionate about this?

When writing about sexuality it is important to me to write about true intimacy. Especially for those who have broken their wedding vows and for those who have been betrayed, who still long for real intimacy with spiritual and sexual maturity. My book, False Intimacy: Understanding the Struggle of Sexual Addiction (1992), was the first Christian book published on the subject of sexual addiction. I have for over thirty years counseled 1000s of sexually broken people from all across the U.S. who came to see me for a week of intensive counseling. I have taught on the subject of sexuality in all fifty states as well as over twenty foreign countries. No subject is more important to our spiritual maturity and sexual maturity.

Harry's book list on to survive and recover from marital unfaithfulness

Harry Schaumburg Why did Harry love this book?

The marriage vows say, “until death do us part.” In our divorce culture, that commitment often doesn’t translate into “happily ever after.” That being the case, we must ask ourselves, is it worth getting married? Before we answer that question, we must first ask, what is the purpose of getting married? It is not primarily about sex! Christopher Ash presents the radical concept that marriage is a union for us to effectively get God’s work done. I have found that in helping couples rebuild a broken marriage, they need this understanding.


What was particular helpful in counseling sexually broken and sinful people, was to understand that therapeutic spirituality doesn’t address the heart, the heart that is deceitful. Jesus clearly states that “For out of the heart come all the evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person” (Matt. 15:19, 20). No other…

By Christopher Ash,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Marriage as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The 'way of a man with a maiden' was too wonderful for the writer of Proverbs to understand. Preoccupying so many thoughts and dreams, the subject of countless songs, films and fairytales, the love between a man and a woman has always been a profound and perplexing mystery.
And yet we do not live happily ever after. Four out of ten marriages will end in divorce. Couples now choose to live together rather than marry, and those relationships are even less likely to last. People are having fewer children, later, and with a succession of partners. Ironically, just when so…


Book cover of Black Widows

Bernard Capp Author Of British Slaves and Barbary Corsairs, 1580-1750

From Bernard's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Professor Historian Grandad

Bernard's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Bernard Capp Why did Bernard love this book?

This gripping crime thriller is more a ‘whichdunnit’ than a ’whodunnit’. The murder victim, a dissident Mormon patriarch, lived with his three wives in a rundown farmstead in Utah so remote that the women are the only plausible suspects.

They dislike and resent each other, and each has a strong motive to kill their tyrannical spouse. Quinn brilliantly brings her characters to life, each with a very different backstory, and captures marvelously the feel of the place and the period. I found the book impossible to put down.

It’s full of twists and turns, with surprises to the very end. And unlike many thrillers, it has stayed fresh in my mind for months.

By Cate Quinn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Black Widows as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"While Quinn writes with spirit on weighty subjects like domestic abuse, polygamy and religious cults, her primary and most poignant theme seems to be female friendship."-New York Times Book Review

"An absolutely thrilling novel. I devoured it over a weekend, unable to put it down. It's a clever and completely original take on a domestic thriller."-Alex Michaelides, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Silent Patient

"Original, informative, suspenseful-the big three in a literary slam bang."-New York Journal of Books

Blake's dead. They say his wife killed him. If so... which one?

Polygamist Blake Nelson built a homestead…


Book cover of Love, Pray, Listen: Parenting Your Wayward Adult Kids with Joy

Dorothy Littell Greco Author Of Marriage in the Middle: Embracing Midlife Surprises, Challenges, and Joys

From my list on helping you to thrive in midlife.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been writing and providing pastor care for more than thirty years now. Since turning sixty, I have noticed that aging well is not a given. Many people seem to grow increasingly bitter, resentful, and hard. If we want to become more empathetic, grateful, and loving, we have to keep growing and do our spiritual and relational work. We also need trustworthy guides to help us find our way. I hope to be a wise, compassionate guide for my readers.

Dorothy's book list on helping you to thrive in midlife

Dorothy Littell Greco Why did Dorothy love this book?

If you are a parent and your children are over the age of eighteen, you know that your relationship with them shifts radically as they become adults. If you’ve raised your children to be independent thinkers, guess what? They will think and act independently, sometimes making choices that cause pain and confusion. Mary does a terrific job of helping parents remain grounded in their faith as they figure out how to love and support their sons and daughters in this new season. Her love for and knowledge of Scripture is very evident throughout. (Note: I would not have included the word “Wayward” in the title. Mary does not focus on adult kids who have made poor choices, but rather ones whose lives look different than what we might have imagined.)

By Mary DeMuth,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Love, Pray, Listen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Love, Pray, Listen offers empathy and grounded biblical wisdom to help parents thrive, no matter what path their adult kids take."--PASTOR STEVE STROOPE

Wisdom and Hope for Parents of Grown-Ups

As a parent, your role changes drastically after your kids grow up. You fear heartache and strained relationships when your children choose difficult--even seemingly wrong--paths.

Love, Pray, Listen is the gracious, practical resource you need for navigating the rocky terrain of parenting grown-ups. In this book, mom and author Mary DeMuth answers questions like:

* What do I do when my kids make choices that don't align with my values?…


Book cover of Divine Design: God's Complementary Roles for Men and Women

Scott LaPierre Author Of Your Marriage God's Way: A Biblical Guide to a Christ-Centered Relationship

From my list on Christian marriage (from the author of a best-selling Christian marriage book).

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the teaching pastor of Woodland Christian Church, and in 2016, I published a best-selling marriage book, Your Marriage God's Way, with an accompanying workbook. Soon after that, I began receiving invitations to put on marriage conferences across the nation. My experience teaching on marriage, performing marriage counseling, and meeting so many married couples has given me a strong biblical understanding of marriage.

Scott's book list on Christian marriage (from the author of a best-selling Christian marriage book)

Scott LaPierre Why did Scott love this book?

I have been a big fan of John MacArthur for years. His commentary, which I recommended in another one of my lists, is the first commentary I look at when preparing sermons.

Generally, when I want to listen to a sermon on the passage I am preparing to teach, I usually try to find one of his sermons first. Not surprisingly, his marriage book found a place on my list. Just like the other books in the list, he holds a complementarian view of marriage, which is to say he believes the Bible teaches that men and women are equal, but not identical. This is God’s “Divine Design.”

By John F. MacArthur,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Divine Design as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For decades culture has blurred the lines between men and women, all in the name of equality. Yet instead of creating harmony, this approach has caused frustration and confusion, leaving families broken and hurting. Divine Design draws reader back to God’s intention for men and women, and tackles big issues such as authority in marriage, mothers in the home, and the innate differences between males and females. Readers will discover how embracing their unique design can foster security, balance, and love in a marriage and family.