Devotions For Dating Couples: Building A Foundation For Spiritual Intimacy

by Ben Young, Sam Adams

If you are like most dating couples, you are looking for more than just a companion – you want a soul mate! The essence of a true soul mate relationship is that of deep spiritual connection and a shared commitment to God.

This dynamic book will help you discover how to make your most important love relationships–with God and your potential mate–strong, lasting, and radiant.

Relationship experts Ben Young and Samuel Adams, authors of The Ten Commandments of Dating and The One, give user-friendly tips for nurturing your personal walk with God and enhancing your spiritual connection as a couple. As you read through the devotions each day, you will:


Become a great lover by learning to love God first
Develop the essential disciplines of a lasting relationship
Focus on the important things in life
Discover a sense of spiritual purpose and meaning
Understand that grace is not just for "beginners" – it is for you, every day 
Whether you are dating seriously or engaged to be married, these daily personal devotions and weekly couple's devotions will help you discover the way to lifelong love.

 

Genres: Christian, Religion, Nonfiction, Relationships, Christianity, Devotional, Marriage

203 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2002

About the author

Dr. Ben Young is the senior pastor at Second Baptist Church, a diverse, multi-ethnic church with over 20,000 people attending weekly services online and on six campuses throughout the city of Houston. The author of several books, including Room for Doubt, Devotions for Dating Couples and Survive the Day, Dr. Young is also an adjunct professor at Houston Theological Seminary where he teaches homiletics, apologetics and practical theology.
Born and raised in the Carolinas before moving to Texas in 1978, Young was educated at Baylor University, Southwestern Theological Seminary and Bethel Theological Seminary in San Diego. Having hosted a nationally syndicated radio talk show for years and serving as chaplain for the Houston Astros, Dr. Young also enjoys surfing and practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult book to review. I can't say that I loved the book itself. It's filled with shallow, amateurish theological statements and trite and/or stretched analogies. However, my now-fiance and I did have some very meaningful conversations that were provoked by the book, some of them even inspired by how poorly the authors had covered some of the subjects. So, I'd give the book itself a rather low rating...that I'll bump up because I actually think that, in a perhaps unintended way, the book accomplished exactly what it was supposed to do for us.

[Trisha McHugh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Based off of the reviews for this book, I had really high hopes. As each week passed, I continued to be confused who the audience was supposed to be and the purpose of that. Moreover, I felt like the stories mentioned by the authors really had very vague connections to the points they were trying to make. Finally, this book was supposed to be a devotion for dating couples but there was very little connection for couples to talk over. Overall, pretty disappointed with this devotional.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This devotional goes surface level on many topics that are important for new couple's to discuss. I wish my boyfriend and I would've know about this book when we first started dating. Unfortunately, by the time we started this devotional we had already thoroughly discussed many of the topics the book covers.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great devotional for couples either seriously dating or married. It’s a 9 week devotional that challenges you individually and as a couple. Every week has a different theme and every day you do an individual devotional and one day a week you come together to discuss what you’ve learned from the week!

[Brooks Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some weeks the content itself was thought-provoking and challenged you during your individual reading, and others it felt far short of that. However, every week’s questions to discuss led to very meaningful conversations and helped me open up about things I’d never discussed with anyone else, so for that alone I think this was worthy of the read and five stars.

[Angela Armold · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not sure I've ever seen a better one than this, however. Not deep, not well written, and just barely topics to discuss, we did read one each week and meet to compare answers. I recommend doing that, but maybe with other books and readings. Discussions get 4 stars. This book gets 1.

[Amanda Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great devotional about putting God before everything else, even your relationship. It also talks about the importance of community and prayer. Loved this!

[John Kraemer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book containing bite-sized sections of core theology, labeled for couples to sell better.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for Christian couples

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the format: about two pages of daily reading for Monday through Friday, then 6-10 questions to discuss on Saturday. I didn't like the content of all of the daily messages - some of it was great, some of it was boring, and some of it I just didn't agree with. We had talked about a lot of the questions before just in regular conversation, but it was neat to have a focused discussion every week.

[Becki]

Went through it with Jeff\nAnswers to questions are in my journal\nBrought up some good questions but parts semeed basic\nPurity needs to be week 2 not week 8\nRecommend to other dating/engaged couples\n\n1. Love\n2. Grace\n3. Prayer\n4. The Word\n5. Simplicity\n6. Forgiveness\n7. Community\n8. Purity\n9. The Spirit

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely very inspiring, convicting, and helpful. May however be geared more towards those new to their faith. None the less it was very eye opening in a couple areas to me and each weeks study seemed to be quite relevant to the events in my life.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I disagree with some of the theology in the book, overall I found it helpful as a reflection and discussion device. My fiance's proposal even stemmed from a discussion based upon one particular chapter, so for that alone, it was a worthwhile read.

[Bethany Zoerhof · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great devotional for couples! I especially like that you read the short daily devotionals by yourself during the week and come together on the weekend to read a devotion together with discussion questions! Highly Recommend!

[Lysandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband and I read it as we were getting ready for the big day. It furthered our spiritual intimacy. It didn't take long to do each night and we found the topics very helpful. Would recommend to others.

[Cory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent devotional. It came to me at just the right time. It took about nine weeks and had topics that really made me and my girlfriend think. There is also a set of questions at the end of every week that helped us to talk about what we were learning. All in all great book.

[Mcmean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great devotional, and good way to connect- good discussion topics.

We are going through it again. Want to get our money's worth, right?

[ArtemiseElyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good study for just starting couples or tenured couples.

[Jenna Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great dating couples devo!

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's very elementary. The lessons here seem to be for people who have less than a rudimentary understanding of what God wants for our lives. There was only chapter I found helpful.

[Jayma Cleveland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for young couples

It really brought me and my boyfriend closer together and helped us understand who we are really living for. Highly recommended.

[Scott Guillory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great devotion for courting couples!

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to get through. But good topics to focus on.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. I don’t think it would add much to a relationship but was good for self help. But I guess I’m the end that does help a relationship? I don’t know.

[Joy King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read for couples!

This was great. I think it's relevant for those in a relationship and for those looking to find a Christian relationship as well.