8 Best Marriage Books for Christian Couples

If you are in a Christian marriage, then you likely believe marriage should last the rest of your life, or forever. However, it is normal to feel frustrated when you discover that marriage, even a Christian marriage, isn’t as easy as you thought it would be.

It’s important to accept the fact that marriage takes work, even when you have Jesus on your team. Yes, marriage will be a million times easier with Jesus and the word of God. However, I also believe that God wants us to seek out truth in all forms. First in His word, then through the wisdom, research, and experience of others.

So if you feel like your marriage needs a little extra help, fun, or work, then check out 8 of the best marriage books for Christian couples below. These books will help you increase in couple intimacy, understand marriage from a long-term and eternal perspective, communicate better, and have more fun together.

While each of these books focuses on different aspects of marriage, they will all help you strengthen your marriage as a Christian couple.

1) Take Back Your Marriage: Sticking Together in a World that Pulls us Apart, by Bill Doherty

I consider this one of the best marriage books because of Dr. Doherty’s view that marriage isn’t meant to be over when the spark is gone.

In this book, Bill Doherty does an excellent job at illustrating marriage as something that needs constant care and attention. He uses the analogy that a marriage is like paddling a canoe up a river. If you or your partner stops paddling, you are going to end up downstream. Likewise, you need to keep on paddling together to get to where you want to be in your marital relationship. 

You will find lots of valuable advice on how to avoid or get out of common pitfalls couples experience in marriage. It’s a great book for Christian couples with struggling marriages or for couples who want to know how to deal with struggles in the future.

2) Why Marriages Succeed or Fail: And How You Can Make Yours Last, by John Gottman

John Gottman has written many books that I (and many others) consider to be some of the best marriage books. Dr. Gottman is a true marriage expert. He has studied hundreds of couples and has the ability to predict divorce with incredible accuracy.

In Why Marriages Succeed or Fail, Dr. Gottman clarifies misunderstandings, shares how to see your marriage through new eyes, and helps you know how to combat the hidden forces in your relationship that seem to be attacking you both.

This is also a great marriage book on communication! Something that sets it apart from other books is that it helps couples identify their individual and couple-way of communicating.

Surprisingly, John Gottman reveals that there is no one right or wrong way of communicating. You can have heated arguments or quiet conversations and still have a happy and healthy marriage, as long as you have enough positivity in your marriage. (Of course, he goes more into depth about it, but that’s the gist of it!)

3) The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, by John Gottman

The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work is a must-have for all couples! If you search online for best marriage books, this will almost always be one of the top results! Aside from that, I have read it and used many of it’s teachings in my own marriage. The principles Gottman teaches really do work to better your marriage!

In this book, Gottman dives into the most important aspects of how to strengthen marriage and keeping it alive. This book also doubles as a marriage workbook for couples. It has a lot of questionnaires and activities for couples so they can see how their relationship needs to improve. My husband, Chase, and I went through a few of these before we were married and learned some valuable things about each other!

Even if you don’t read this book cover to cover, it is a handy guide to turn to when you have specific questions about marital struggles. 

4) Sexual Wholeness in Marriage, by Dean Busby, Jason Carroll, and Chelom Leavitt

I absolutely love this book! I honestly consider it to be one of the best christian books on intimacy in marriage. I read it for college, and it is so engaging and insightful that I kept it so I can read it again over the years.

Sexual Wholeness in Marriage discusses how to have sexual wholeness in your marriage from the perspective of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you are another type of Christian and have high sexual standards, it will definitely apply to you as well. This book also uses valid research to teach the principles it shares.

It can be hard for some people to comprehend sex as a spiritual, emotional, and physical experience. Too many people try to separate the spiritual from the physical and believe that sexual pleasure can’t possibly be spiritual (even though sex was created by God). Well, this book addresses that concern and more!

This book teaches you how to address sexual concerns within your marriage and how to meet the needs of the spouse who has a higher desire for sex and the other who has a higher desire for emotional connection. I highly recommend reading this book if you are wondering how to better your sexual relationship with your spouse.

5) Purity and Passion: Spiritual Truths about Intimacy That Will Strengthen Your Marriage, by Wendy Watson Nelson

This is another one of the best Christian books on intimacy in marriage.

Purity and Passion talks about how marital intimacy is more than just sex. Wendy Watson Nelson shares that physical, emotional, and spiritual intimacy are all apart of having good marital intimacy.

She also refers to eternal principles believed by those who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but it would still be helpful for any Christian couple who wants to strengthen their marital bond. 

I love how Wendy Nelson teaches that when you are pure, you can experience more passion in your marriage because you are living God’s commandments. This is something that is definitely not taught in popular culture today. 

6) 101 Nights of Grrreat Romance, by Laura Corn

God wants us to enjoy marriage, and this book will definitely help you do that!

I have a lot to say about this book because of the memories we have created because of it! I consider it to be one the best marriage books out there, mainly for the increased fun and excitement it can bring to your marriage.

My mother-in-law recommended this book to me, so I got it as a gift for my husband. It is filled with sealed pages of ideas on how to enhance the romance and connection in your relationship. Half of the pages are “for her eyes only” and focus on doing things the man would enjoy. The other half are “for his eyes only” and focus on doing things the woman would enjoy. It is a fun and easier way to come up with date ideas and ways to serve your spouse.

My husband did one of these assignments for our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple. He made sure I stayed in bed as he put rose petals and roses leading to the bathroom. When I walked in, I found a hot bath with a bath bomb, a bath pillow, and Dove chocolates on the side! He also wrote a sweet note to me and made me breakfast. It was heavenly and I felt so loved! 

Here’s a little bit more about what’s in 101 Nights of Grrreat Romance:

Kiss of the Week

Along with the romantic ideas comes a few other exciting things. There is a “kiss of the week” where you are given an idea on how, where, or when to kiss your honey. One example is to go outside or in the garage and blow a whistle really loud until your spouse comes to see what’s going on. Once they find you, you give them a really big kiss that makes them glad they did. 

Passion Coupons

Another fun thing about this book are the passion coupons. These give you permission to get creative with your physical passions. One of the passion coupons was to have one spouse whisper a seducing story into the other spouse’s ear. Some of these coupons may be out of your comfort zone, but I found it’s more fun when I try something new. (But don’t feel pressured to do everything! These are only suggestions and I have definitely tweaked how I do some of them.)

Pearls of Wisdom

Each page also comes with inspirational pearls of wisdom. These are fun and inspiring to read and correlate nicely to the assignment you are given.

7) The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts, by Gary Chapman

The Five Love Languages is a classic and by far one of the best marriage books! Plus, Gary Chapman is a Christian which makes the book that much better.

While you may have heard of this book and think you know each other’s love languages, I still HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you read it! Honestly, I thought I didn’t need to read the book. But when I finally decided to, I was blown away by the real-life stories and the teachings of Gary Chapman! This book can 100% change your marriage for the better.

If you don’t know your love language or your partner’s love language, I highly recommend finding out what they are. Take this love language test, then read the book to learn more about those specific love languages and how to speak your spouse’s language.

8) The Four Seasons of Marriage, by Gary Chapman

I have to admit I have not read this book – yet! But after reading Gary Chapman’s book on the five love languages I know that this one is a must-read. I am eager to get a hold of it!

I learned a little about the four seasons of marriage while studying in college. It is a fascinating concept that we go through seasons in marriage and that marriages are constantly changing, just like nature.

Gary Chapman teaches what each season entails and how you can make the most of your marriage in all four seasons.

9) Real Love in Marriage: The Truth About Finding Genuine Happiness Now and Forever, by Greg Baer

A friend of mine recommended this book. She has read almost all of the above books and said that this one impacted her marriage the most! I think this would be a great one to look into. It teaches you how to navigate the difficulties of marriage and how to make it last beyond the honeymoon phase.

Happy Marriage!

I wish you the best in your marriage! I hope that these books will be helpful to you like they have been to me and many others. Now go pick a book to start with and have a happier marriage!

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