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Strengthening Your Marriage
You married "for better or worse." Whichever term describes your marriage today, it can be better tomorrow. Mack's Bible-based approach to marriage offers practical insights on marital roles
208 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 1951
132 people are currently reading
582 people want to read
About the author
Wayne A. Mack
54 books34 followersWayne Mack lives in Pretoria, South Africa, where he serves as a pastor-elder with his son-in-law and teaches biblical counseling at Strengthening Ministries Training Institute to pastors and aspiring pastors in the region. He also spends about six weeks in the USA teaching at various churches. He and his wife, Carol, have four adult children and numerous grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
September 21, 2022
Overall biblical view of marriage and how to keep the marriage going in the right direction. A lot of good questions for couples to work through together and open up good conversations. Me and hubby did a book study with our dear friends from our amazing church, and it was a blessing for us all. Strengthening our marriage can only be done through His word and appropriately applying it in our lives individually and together!
February 4, 2016
We did this book as part of our joint devotions... And a "follow up" to the premarital counseling workbook of Mack's we used before getting married. We'd read as few points/do as many questions as we wanted to each day, which allowed us to have great discussions on topics of oneness through communication, sexual intimacy, financial decisions and child raising. We loved how much scripture was in it and practical advice... Was as valuable as reading "Marriage God's Way" before marrying has been to us!
June 25, 2024
The format of this book is unusual (the whole book is in the form of an outline--I.A.1...), but it is full of practical, Biblical guidance. My wife and I listened to most of the audiobook together on a trip and we both were convicted and encouraged by it. The chapters on the husband's responsibilities, wife's responsibilities, and good communication were probably the most helpful.
May 2, 2024
Brilliant because it’s Biblical. (5 stars)
Wayne Mack completed his doctoral studies at Westminster Theological Seminary under the supervision of Jay E. Adams, who is world renowned for his Reformed approach to the field of counselling. Mack has largely followed in the footsteps of his mentor. He is the author of several books, all of which reflect the influence of the Jay Adams approach to counselling.
Strengthening Your Marriage was initially developed as part of the requirements of Mack’s doctoral program under Adams, and this practical volume is essentially the fruit of these studies. Not surprisingly, it reflects the sensible and solidly Biblical approach of Adams throughout.
Taking his starting point in the divine blueprint for marriage revealed in Genesis 2:24, Mack focuses on developing a Biblical understanding of becoming “one flesh” in all areas of marriage. Each area receives a solidly Biblical exposition, with the following topics being addressed: unity through understanding God’s purpose for marriage; unity through a clear understanding of the wife’s responsibilities and husband’s responsibilities; unity through good communication; unity through financial agreement; sexual unity; unity through a common philosophy of raising children; promoting and maintaining unity by means of family religion. Each chapter is followed by a comprehensive set of questions which reinforce the content of the chapter by requiring the readers to study various Bible verses and apply these Biblical principles to their relationship.
Mack’s intention is to promote solidly Biblical pre-marital and marital counselling. The book is primarily intended to be used by pastors and counsellors as a guide and workbook in such counselling. However, it also has the potential to be used as an effective tool by couples on their own.
The main strength of Strengthening Your Marriage is that it is thorough, Reformed, and Biblical. Mack constantly refers to Scripture, and yet has the gift of being very concrete and practical at the same time. Be warned however - the density of its content means that this book is not an easy armchair read. However, Mack never intended this to be an armchair read in the first place – it requires systematic study and work on the part of readers. Such study and work, however, is sure to reap rich rewards.
Especially pastors and elders will find Strengthening Your Marriage to be an excellent tool for dealing with the basic aspects of marriage. Jay Adam’s recommendation is one I enthusiastically endorse: “Dr. Mack has produced a volume to which you will turn again and again. Buy it; it belongs on your shelf!”
Wayne Mack completed his doctoral studies at Westminster Theological Seminary under the supervision of Jay E. Adams, who is world renowned for his Reformed approach to the field of counselling. Mack has largely followed in the footsteps of his mentor. He is the author of several books, all of which reflect the influence of the Jay Adams approach to counselling.
Strengthening Your Marriage was initially developed as part of the requirements of Mack’s doctoral program under Adams, and this practical volume is essentially the fruit of these studies. Not surprisingly, it reflects the sensible and solidly Biblical approach of Adams throughout.
Taking his starting point in the divine blueprint for marriage revealed in Genesis 2:24, Mack focuses on developing a Biblical understanding of becoming “one flesh” in all areas of marriage. Each area receives a solidly Biblical exposition, with the following topics being addressed: unity through understanding God’s purpose for marriage; unity through a clear understanding of the wife’s responsibilities and husband’s responsibilities; unity through good communication; unity through financial agreement; sexual unity; unity through a common philosophy of raising children; promoting and maintaining unity by means of family religion. Each chapter is followed by a comprehensive set of questions which reinforce the content of the chapter by requiring the readers to study various Bible verses and apply these Biblical principles to their relationship.
Mack’s intention is to promote solidly Biblical pre-marital and marital counselling. The book is primarily intended to be used by pastors and counsellors as a guide and workbook in such counselling. However, it also has the potential to be used as an effective tool by couples on their own.
The main strength of Strengthening Your Marriage is that it is thorough, Reformed, and Biblical. Mack constantly refers to Scripture, and yet has the gift of being very concrete and practical at the same time. Be warned however - the density of its content means that this book is not an easy armchair read. However, Mack never intended this to be an armchair read in the first place – it requires systematic study and work on the part of readers. Such study and work, however, is sure to reap rich rewards.
Especially pastors and elders will find Strengthening Your Marriage to be an excellent tool for dealing with the basic aspects of marriage. Jay Adam’s recommendation is one I enthusiastically endorse: “Dr. Mack has produced a volume to which you will turn again and again. Buy it; it belongs on your shelf!”
July 24, 2018
This is between 3 and 4 stars...
The chapters themselves I would rate as 3 stars with the discussion questions being 4 stars...Explained below.
In my case, I read it alone. The chapters themselves aren't very interesting. The author points out a specific point regarding marriage, such as the purpose of it or the role of each individual, and backs up his reasoning with Bible verses. He does write out the verses, which is nice. I do appreciate that he is backing up what he says with verses but the fact that the majority of the chapters are just that makes it a boring read. I could just as easily look at the back of my own Bible, select a topic, and then scroll through the verses. Where is the added substance? The author adds little practical advice, leaving me feel as if I'm not learning anything new from him, regarding marriage or the Bible. (If you are a new Christian, it may be more interesting and you could learn about the concept of marriage through the book, but again, just as you can through the Bible.)
That being said, after each chapter, he gives quite a lot of questions that can be used on your own, or with your spouse. The idea is to do them together. Some were very topical while others really stood out as unique questions that made me ponder certain aspects of our marriage and consider our strengths and weaknesses. I also found that some areas really convicted me...like those questioning my own role as a wife and how closely I am following the Bible in my own home. It can be emotionally hard to recognize that we often fall out of line with the Bible's expectations and into the world's expectations instead. The author even challenges us to get into a deep discussion with one another and see how each of us struggle, need growth, and can help one another. Many of these questions, I believe, could really help a couple and going through this book could bring two people closer spiritually and emotionally.
I highly recommend reading this with your spouse, if possible. I think any reader would gain a lot more from it from doing so.
The chapters themselves I would rate as 3 stars with the discussion questions being 4 stars...Explained below.
In my case, I read it alone. The chapters themselves aren't very interesting. The author points out a specific point regarding marriage, such as the purpose of it or the role of each individual, and backs up his reasoning with Bible verses. He does write out the verses, which is nice. I do appreciate that he is backing up what he says with verses but the fact that the majority of the chapters are just that makes it a boring read. I could just as easily look at the back of my own Bible, select a topic, and then scroll through the verses. Where is the added substance? The author adds little practical advice, leaving me feel as if I'm not learning anything new from him, regarding marriage or the Bible. (If you are a new Christian, it may be more interesting and you could learn about the concept of marriage through the book, but again, just as you can through the Bible.)
That being said, after each chapter, he gives quite a lot of questions that can be used on your own, or with your spouse. The idea is to do them together. Some were very topical while others really stood out as unique questions that made me ponder certain aspects of our marriage and consider our strengths and weaknesses. I also found that some areas really convicted me...like those questioning my own role as a wife and how closely I am following the Bible in my own home. It can be emotionally hard to recognize that we often fall out of line with the Bible's expectations and into the world's expectations instead. The author even challenges us to get into a deep discussion with one another and see how each of us struggle, need growth, and can help one another. Many of these questions, I believe, could really help a couple and going through this book could bring two people closer spiritually and emotionally.
I highly recommend reading this with your spouse, if possible. I think any reader would gain a lot more from it from doing so.
October 14, 2019
This was good, although the formatting choice seemed strange. If you're going to outline everything, then don't write in a conversational style, but maybe that's just me.
I really appreciated some points he made.
- If you don't fix emotional baggage in the relationships with your parents, you cannot truly "leave and cleave," no matter how far you may physically move from them.
- Our job should be to prepare our children to leave us, not stay indefinitely. ;)
- A wife should build the children's loyalty to their father by always lifting him up in her words and actions. If you have an issue with your husband, ALWAYS deal with it away from the kids.
- Oneness in the marriage relationship cannot be achieved if the husband doesn't fulfill his biblical role. (Duh. But holy cow, is there a sad imbalance of spiritually-burdened couples!)
He did credit some of the points to Bill Gothard, which made me kind of skeptical. I mean, I'm kind of done taking marriage advice from unmarried people, let alone a man with sexual harassment/abuse charges. But this was a tiny section of the book, and overall I felt like the author was fair in his admonishment to both wives AND husbands. Just when I thought he'd get sexist or patriarchal or something weird, he'd drop a bomb on Christian husbands and fathers and really preach at them just as hard. :P So the book didn't blow me away, but I liked it.
I really appreciated some points he made.
- If you don't fix emotional baggage in the relationships with your parents, you cannot truly "leave and cleave," no matter how far you may physically move from them.
- Our job should be to prepare our children to leave us, not stay indefinitely. ;)
- A wife should build the children's loyalty to their father by always lifting him up in her words and actions. If you have an issue with your husband, ALWAYS deal with it away from the kids.
- Oneness in the marriage relationship cannot be achieved if the husband doesn't fulfill his biblical role. (Duh. But holy cow, is there a sad imbalance of spiritually-burdened couples!)
He did credit some of the points to Bill Gothard, which made me kind of skeptical. I mean, I'm kind of done taking marriage advice from unmarried people, let alone a man with sexual harassment/abuse charges. But this was a tiny section of the book, and overall I felt like the author was fair in his admonishment to both wives AND husbands. Just when I thought he'd get sexist or patriarchal or something weird, he'd drop a bomb on Christian husbands and fathers and really preach at them just as hard. :P So the book didn't blow me away, but I liked it.
August 4, 2025
Hard to recommend without some caveats:
1. Read the scripture references; Mack makes many assumptions and quotes scripture to support those assumptions. Go back to the Bible and evaluate what scripture says and then go back and read his conclusion.
2. The text is outdated. I think there is a way to write a marriage book that transcends time and culture, but this is not it. One humorous example is the recommendation of starting a family paper route to raise finances. This is just not relevant to folks in 2025.
3. Read the study questions. He often addresses things in the Qs that are not addressed in the text. Go back to point 1.
There are some genuinely good things in here, but it requires careful reading (more careful than I think the book deserves).
1. Read the scripture references; Mack makes many assumptions and quotes scripture to support those assumptions. Go back to the Bible and evaluate what scripture says and then go back and read his conclusion.
2. The text is outdated. I think there is a way to write a marriage book that transcends time and culture, but this is not it. One humorous example is the recommendation of starting a family paper route to raise finances. This is just not relevant to folks in 2025.
3. Read the study questions. He often addresses things in the Qs that are not addressed in the text. Go back to point 1.
There are some genuinely good things in here, but it requires careful reading (more careful than I think the book deserves).
August 2, 2022
If you could take out units 2, 3, and 7 this book could be a 4 star, but because the author states that his opinion is biblical truth so often, this book just adds to the cacophony of personal opinions on male, female, husband, wife, marriage, and family that's already out there.
One star is for the remaining units as they had helpful suggestions on these topics.
And one star is for the questions at the end of each unit which are excellent and could be a very helpful resource for teaching and aiding in discussion, or personal Bible study.
My opinion - Read the Bible, not this book.
Use this book for it's questions at the end of each unit.
One star is for the remaining units as they had helpful suggestions on these topics.
And one star is for the questions at the end of each unit which are excellent and could be a very helpful resource for teaching and aiding in discussion, or personal Bible study.
My opinion - Read the Bible, not this book.
Use this book for it's questions at the end of each unit.
September 7, 2024
Great book for every married couple. Buying a copy for our childrens marriages.
This is a great book that every couple couldn't down and have their own marriage counseling with. Each chapter should be digested. Walked through together. Each chapter gives excellent homework, study guides, q &a. Highly recommend for for all married couples, especially for those about to be married.
I do not like the bad formatting in Kindle (italics of wrong size font that are too small to read). Amazon. Please fix!!!€
This is a great book that every couple couldn't down and have their own marriage counseling with. Each chapter should be digested. Walked through together. Each chapter gives excellent homework, study guides, q &a. Highly recommend for for all married couples, especially for those about to be married.
I do not like the bad formatting in Kindle (italics of wrong size font that are too small to read). Amazon. Please fix!!!€
September 25, 2020
This rating is especially for the questions at the end of each chapter. While a lot of the questions could be done by just doing a google search for Bible verses of a specific topic, how many of us actually do that? And so this is a great guide to follow. Yes, for many people the information in the book may be common knowledge, I think that's what we need! To be reminded of Biblical truths over and over again.
February 22, 2018
Mainly for married people but still usefull as it gives precious advices useful in the future. The style of book is structured, nice, easy and enjoyable to read (bulleted list). It gives advices to improve marital relationships. Deeply grounded in Scriptures (gives a lot of verses). I liked the definition of wife's submission to husband, the insights on marriage and the part on raising children.
April 22, 2024
The organizational structure of this book is just weird. My friend described it best: it’s like they took Power Point slides and made a book out of them.
The more I read of Wayne Mack the less and less impressed I become. Anyone who uses Bill Gothard as source material immediately gets a red flag.
The more I read of Wayne Mack the less and less impressed I become. Anyone who uses Bill Gothard as source material immediately gets a red flag.
August 30, 2024
I think the writing was excellent, and good, sound, biblical advice, but I really struggled with the way that it was written like an outline. I thought some of the Bible verses in the questions were very hard to connect to the questions, and there was a sometimes excessive amount of questions and verses at the end of the chapters.
June 30, 2025
Lots of great content for a marriage. Written in outline form but full of relevant scriptures and great insight. a definite read for all married couples. Very practical and intended to be used in a study with your spouse of group. Questions at the end are very thorough and will help you develop the right philosophy and theology when it comes to the matters of a God honoring marriage.
February 8, 2018
The book is basically a large outline in format and is very scattered in its thought process. You could basically just google “Scripture on (fill in the blank)” and you could get the information much easier and avoid suffering through this book. I wouldn’t recommend it to a pagan.
October 15, 2018
Foundational and practical. The numbering list format, though may not look so elegant, helps to clearly see the flow of points being made. The worksheet every end of a chapter is a great addition, will surely help husbands and wives willing to go through them. Good tool for marriage counseling.
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September 8, 2020Originally I gave this title 3 stars. I am revising my stars to zero.
The reason I am doing so is that since reading this title, several things about my faith journey and expression have changed and I no longer subscribe to evangelical ideologies.
The reason I am doing so is that since reading this title, several things about my faith journey and expression have changed and I no longer subscribe to evangelical ideologies.
February 10, 2022
One of the "best" marriage books I've read!
This should be a must read for couples preparing for marriage, for couples looking to rejuvenate their marriage and for couples having problems to work through. Love all the scriptures.
This should be a must read for couples preparing for marriage, for couples looking to rejuvenate their marriage and for couples having problems to work through. Love all the scriptures.
November 13, 2024
Excellent book!!! Highly recommend it! Love all of the application and homework and Bible study at the end of each unit! Would make a great counseling or small group book to work through. Solid Bible teaching!!
December 4, 2020
Solid resource for Pre-marital and Marriage Counseling. My wife and I were counseled from this book and I used it to help compile a counseling workbook for ministry use. Highly recommended!
February 9, 2022
Helpful and basic.
December 30, 2022
Excellent resource for married couples to grow in understanding and practicing biblical marital roles and relating.
January 23, 2023
Not a Fluffy book. Was a fun and convicting book to go through with my husband. Even after nearly 8 years of marriage it was a good refresher.
April 25, 2023
Made some good discussions if your not great at communicating this is a good book to have
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June 1, 2023I walked away from this book with many practical pieces of truth to use in my own life. This is a book to come back to every now and again on different seasons of life. I am sure I will do this.
June 26, 2023
Gonna be a go-to for marriage counseling.
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August 17, 2023A long-term reading with my wife!
August 24, 2023
This book is a great resource for marriage counselling. It touches on all the major issues that should be touched on, and includes homework questions that make for good discussion. It has a chapter on the purpose of marriage, roles in marriage, communication, finances, sex, and child rearing!
October 6, 2024
One of the better Christian marriage books I’ve read. Worth throwing into the mix of pastoral premarital/marriage counseling material.
January 25, 2025
Excellent resource for biblical counselors!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews