Wholehearted Love: Overcome the Barriers That Hold You Back in Your Relationship with God and Others—and Delight in Feeling Safe, Seen, and Loved

by Stefanie Rouse, Chelsea and Nick Hurst (Foreword), Caleb Rouse

Loving others can be so messy.

Somewhere along the way, maybe you’veExperienced pain and trauma that caused you to put up barriers in your heartFelt disappointed that you didn’t get the relationship you once dreamed ofDecided it’s too risky to open yourself up to getting hurt.Maybe you’ve even felt this spreading into your relationship with God. If you're honest, maybe your connection with Him only feels surface level. You’ve shutdown with him too and aren’t experiencing His love like before.

Relationship counselors Stefanie and Caleb Rouse are no strangers to this heartache, loneliness, and brokenness. Yet despite personal pain and loss, they've come to discover that God wants us to experience nothing less than wholehearted love--a love that allows us to be fully safe, seen, and known, with Him and with each other. Join them in the journey as they reveal personal stories, practical coaching, and biblical wisdom to guide you towards living—and loving—wholeheartedly.

Genres: Christian Non Fiction

249 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 30, 2024

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly powerful and super accessible! They use movie quotes, real life examples, scripture, and metaphors to really help you understand and apply the content. Honestly I think this is a must-read for everyone. Whether you're in a relationship, want to be or are happy alone. Very humbling and convicting. I've got a lot of homework...haha

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book! Both authors are new to me authors, and I wasn't sure what to expect. But I felt like I was pulled in from the first page. The writing style was definitely engaging. The main focus is really about pushing past hurts and lies we hold about ourselves, to a place of actively replacing the hurt and lies with the truth about who God is and who He says we are.

The authors use their own life experiences as examples of past hurt, and to show how lies about ourselves are formed. I did find the book to be a bit heavy on their experiences. But there were also very rich nuggets of very practical wisdom with HOW to push past hurts and HOW to counteract the lies we believe about ourselves. Some of the discussion questions hit me hard and made me just sit for several minutes and really think deeply about what they were asking. This book deepened my faith. There's also scripture provided throughout the book, and it is absolutely rooted in the gospel.

I came away feeling like I wished there had been more of a balance of personal experiences with practical application, but overall, I got quite a bit out of it for sure, so I'm really glad I went through it and definitely recommend it. This will be a great book for small groups and bible studies. I highly suggest you get a journal and pen and start this in a quiet place where you can really sit and think about the material because it will really prompt you to dig deep! I will read more by these authors in the future. Thank you so much to NetGalley, Tyndale House Publishers and the authors for a complimentary advanced copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

[Kristi Monte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just adored this book. I think it should be required reading for Christians who are already married or who are single and desire to one day be in a loving, wholehearted marriage. It’s a very practical book with tangible examples and exercises that you can implement alone (like I did) or with a partner. Stefanie and Caleb are so inspiring to me, and their vulnerability in this book made it so relatable. I’ve always loved hearing people’s stories of abuse, rejection, and pain while they continue to glorify God along the way!

[Kierah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book challenged me to look inwardly and discover why I want to live wholeheartedly through their personal stories and scriptures and questions at the end of each chapter. Talks about toxic thought cycles and unhealthy coping + hoe to over come. Really transformative and healing as I read through it.