From This Day Forward: Five Commitments to Fail-Proof Your Marriage

by Craig Groeschel, Amy Groeschel

A must-read for pre-married as well as long-married couples, Craig and Amy Groeschel explore the time-tested wisdom able to guide you and your spouse into the marriage you've always wanted. Everyone dreams of a fairytale marriage--the perfect spouse, the perfect home, the perfect family. But reality tells us that these expectations don't hold up very long. Many studies indicate that close to fifty percent of marriages don't make it. With those odds, is it even possible to have a good marriage--let alone a great one? New York Times bestselling author and pastor Craig Groeschel insists you can . . . but not if you approach it like everyone else does. Perfect for single adults, engaged couples, and married couples alike, Craig and his wife, Amy, show you how to conquer the odds and find the joy, passion, and strength of a marriage built by God. Craig and Amy open their hearts, share personal experiences, and walk you through five powerful commitments you can make to fail-proof your If you earnestly choose to do all five of these things, you will discover a richer, deeper, more authentic marriage. Starting right now--from this day forward. Spanish edition also available, as well as a video study and study guide.

Genres: Marriage, Christian, Nonfiction, Relationships, Christian Living, Faith, Audiobook

176 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2014

About the author

Craig Groeschel is the founding and senior pastor of Life.Church, a multisite church with locations throughout the United States and globally at Life.Church Online.

Craig and his wife Amy started Life.Church in a two-car garage in Edmond, Oklahoma in January 1996. While Life.Church has grown over the years, its mission remains the same: to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Today, the church is known for its innovative use of technology to spread the Gospel, launching the first fully digital church experience in 2006 and the most downloaded Bible app in history, YouVersion, in 2008.

As a widely respected leader in the Church, Craig speaks frequently at leadership events and conferences worldwide. He is a New York Times best-selling author with books about topics like dating and marriage, social media, purpose, direction, church leadership, and more. He also hosts the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast, a practical tool to spark new ideas and prompt innovative thinking in leaders at every level within any organization.

Craig and Amy married in 1991 and have six children. They live in Oklahoma where Life.Church began.

Visit www.craiggroeschel.com to be the first to hear about new podcast episodes, books, leadership events, and more.

Reviews

[Tiff (fictionaltiff) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marriage is a covenant not a contract. Sayings like this filled this book, and although the thoughts are very simple, it was all very helpful. This book is a good place to start in keeping a health marriage. I love this couples' perspective. I've listened to many lifechurch.tv sermons, so a lot of the stuff that was said I already knew, but it was all great to get a refresher on.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars.

🖤 The vibes:
- Christian non fiction
- Addressing marriage
- 🎧 audio is great
- Short read
- Relatable perspective

🖤 My thoughts:
I feel like this book is perfect for the every day difficulties of marriage. If you are feeling too busy or too tired or feeling like you want to boost your relationship in the right direction, I think this is a great book for you.

🖤 This book follows five principles: seek God, fight fair, have fun, stay pure, and never give up. It’s not like a step-by-step guide (because that doesn’t exist in marriage, parenting, or life in general), but it gives you clear areas that are of high importance in a marriage.

🖤 I think this is a great book with a lot of practical tips for showing up for your spouse. It’s also great if you are not married yet because you can really see a lot of ideas of what you might want to include in your marriage from the start. But I love how this book addresses all walks of life: those who are not married yet, those who are married, and those who have been married and are on a new marriage. It is truly never too late to read this book and get biblical guidance on building a good foundation in a relationship.

🖤 And yes. You’ll likely get your toes stepped on at least once in this book. But you might need your toes to be stepped on, so buckle in.

[Virginia Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently was granted the opportunity to read Craig Groeschel’s newest book, From This Day Forward. As the title implies, it is a book on marriage. The subtitle is: Five Commitments to Fail-Proof Your Marriage.

Sounds promising doesn’t it? Who doesn’t want a “Fail-Proof” marriage? I know I do. I know I’d do almost anything to get one too. But is it possible?

Is it possible to follow 5 little steps and have the marriage of your dreams? Is there a money back guarantee for this book if you follow the 5 steps and your marriage still fails?

I love Craig Groeschel. I do. I’ve read several of his books. When one of us is home sick from church, we watch his sermons on tv. Often times more than one on that Sunday morning. He is passionate. Bright. Funny. And always sinks his point home like a deadly arrow.

But do we need another book on marriage? Especially one that promises “If you follow these simple steps, your marriage can’t fail”. Do we really need another one?

They all seem to say the same thing. The personal stories are different, but the message is the same.

Seek God.
Fight Fair
Have Fun
Stay Pure
Never give up.
It’s not that I’m down on marriage books, but we aren’t all the same. Yet they all offer the same steps. Steps that most couples learn in pre-marital counseling. We are still offering a “one-size fits all” approach to marriage.

Its not these steps won’t work. Its not that we don’t try them. Its not that we don’t practice them. We do. I do. You do. Your neighbor does.

But marriages still fail. I have friends I love dearly who have made promises, followed the steps and still their marriage failed.

I think instead of having another marriage book promising the moon and delivering dust, we need to invest time and energy into real couples, with real life problems. We need to find an older couple and decide to pattern our marriage after theirs. We need to step up and say, “I want what you have. And I’ll do anything to get it.”

We need to realize marriage is not a 5-Step Plan, but a daily plan. A daily walk. A daily commitment. Not to some formula that negates our human will, passions, desires. But a commitment to “do or die trying.”

Seeking God is the top. It is the most we can do. But we often stop there. We seek, but not until we find. We seek but only so far. We seek but give up when God turns up the heat on our own selfishness. We seek God so He can “fix” the other person.

It’s when we realize how broken and sinful we really are, and we allow God to fix the broken places in our hearts and souls that we can have any hope of a fail-proof marriage. When we extend grace, the very grace God extends to us, to our spouse daily that we can be assured our marriage will succeed.

Its only when we hold on with bulldog tenacity to our marriage. When we say, “we’ve come to far to turn back now”. When we say, “By God’s grace we’ll persevere”. When we realize we are only one step away from divorce court ourselves, one small step from adultery, one step from stumbling, its when we lean hard on God and hard on each other. When we use the tough times to strengthen who we are individually and as a couple.

Its only then we’ll face success.

Not following a 5-Step Plan. Not reading a good book by our favorite author, putting it on the shelf and forgetting about it.

If you walk away from this post thinking, “I’ll never read that book!” You’ve missed the point. If you need a refresher course on marriage, please pick up this book, or any of the other marriage books on the shelf. Please just remember, it’s not a book, not a plan, not a step program that will fail proof your marriage. It’s your God.



(I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of review. All opinions are my own.)

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books from Pastor Craig Groeschel and have read Weird, Soul Detox, Altar Ego, Fight and now From this Day Forward. His books are wonderful and this book is no exception. In this short book about marriage, Amy and Graig get straight to the point about the five pillars of marriage that will make marriage work if each spouses are committed to making it work. This book is easy to read, but these practical truths can be hard to put into place. I like how this book meets you where you are and helps you strengthen and build on your marriage. This book can be used for those who are married, those getting married or those who have been married for several years.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to give this to some of friends who are getting married. I received this book free for book review purposes and was not compensated for a positive review.

[Karina Tiggelaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read, with practical and straightforward tips on intentionally keeping your marriage strong from a Christian perspective 👍

[Andy Zinkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this book last night. It is a quick, easy read. Craig Groeschel is a pastor but he doesn't preach in this book. Instead he takes a fun, no nonsense approach and just lays it out there. I've read a lot about marriage and family life, and this one puts it all together. As I was reading it, I was thinking the ideal candidate to read this book is that couple just coming out of the "honeymoon" stage of their marriage - that stage where marriage life becomes real, not just flowers and puppy dogs. As I read the whole thing though, I realized there's something in there for everyone from the person not yet married but wants to be someday all the way to the seasoned veteran couple that has been married forever. If your marriage is struggling, or if you just want your marriage to be better than it is and want to prevent falling into the divorce trap that 50% of Americans fall into, then this book is for you. I can't wait to see how it makes my already good marriage a great marriage!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for newlyweds or the couple celebrating their 50th. This is such an easy to read book and based in scripture. If you want five key elements to make/keep your relationship strong, this book will definitely give them to you.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review via NETGALLEY.

[Debby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've lost track of how many self help books I've started, but not quite finished. This book is an exception. It's what our couples bible study group chose, and I decided to download the book so I could listen on my lengthy commute to work. I hadn't heard of Craig Groeschel before, but apparently he's written a LOT of books. Since he's a preacher, his narration was well done.

I'm very blessed to be in a happy marriage to a wonderful man. However, we know how important it is to work on our marriage, and this book gave us some good perspectives. The book is simple, without a bunch of psychology and fluff. Yes, it's bible based, so if you are a non-believer or a doubter, you might not appreciate the book's approach. Craig uses a sense of humor, some interesting analogies and he makes his points very clear. He talks about Seeking God first, Purity, Fighting Fair, having fun and never giving up.

Fighting fair was my favorite chapter, because let's face it-- couples fight. We do, but we don't get physical and we don't go to bed angry. Reading this book, and the working on the accompanying workbook has helped us to set some new guidelines and goals in our marriage. We've had to re-examine how we handle disagreements and to set some new boundaries and "rules" to help us to fight fair.

The purity chapter was interesting. While I am 110% sure, I would never cheat on my husband, he gave other perspectives about this topic. He talked about temptation.

Having Fun - yep, this is something I aspire to increase. It seems that the older the two of us get, together, we become so involved in other things...and we really do need to focus on more one-on-one time.

I also like how Craig's wife has her own perspective at the end of each chapter.

The book is a very short read, and both of us found this fresh perspective on these different topics. I'd read another one of his books.

[William Xil · Rating 4 out of 5]

El autor explica con bastante sencillez y con apertura personal, cinco compromisos que una pareja debería de hacer para proteger su matrimonio. Son cinco ideas básicas pero muy importantes.

Estas son las lecciones que me llevo del libro:

1. Busquen a Dios (Seek God): Orar juntos debería ser el hábito más importante en el matrimonio. Para los solteros el compromiso debería ser "Buscaré a Dios mientras me preparo para mi Dos", mientras que para las parejas es "Siempre buscaré a Dios con mi Dos".

2. Peleen bien (fight fair): En una conversación lo importante no es demostrar quién tiene la razón sino resolver el conflicto, es mejor pelear juntos que uno contra el otro.

3. Diviértanse (have fun)

4. Manténganse puros (Stay pure): Los límites para cuidarse de la inmoralidad deberían ayudar a proteger a la pareja, no importando que tan restringida parezca la situación. Es mejor hacer las cosas diferentes a como las hace todo el mundo, y ser criticados, que ser como el promedio y obtener los resultados que la mayoría tiene en su matrimonio.

5. Nunca se rindan (never give up): El amor es cuestión de decisiones y no puramente de emociones. La acción sigue a los sentimientos. Ama y luego sentirás el amor. Cuando alguien se encuentra diciendo "siento que ya no lo amo, ya no puedo seguir", debería recordar que cuando un carro se queda sin gasolina uno no lo cambia porque se acabó la gasolina, al contrario, lo alimenta de combustible para que siga en marcha. Así es el matrimonio.

[Carrie Daws · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good, easy read full of great advice. I love how Craig Groeschel is able to break down complex subjects to their most basic components, cutting through all the side issues to the bottom line of what is most important. While many may argue about things that truly don't matter as much, the truth remains: If both people within a marriage will commit to God first, then to fight fair, have fun together, stay pure for and to each other, and refuse to ever give up, then a good, long marriage is not just possible. It's overwhelmingly probable. I've seen these principles at work in my own marriage and those of friends around me, and what Pastor Groeschel teaches within this book can truly make a tremendous difference in your marriage too.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to help strengthen your Christian marriage (or future marriage if you're not married yet!). Craig does hold some antiquated gender role ideas and gender generalizations that I didn't love, but if you can overlook those statements, it's a phenomenal book.

[Topsy Samuelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

sometimes basic but helpful

[Jason Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to watch Craig and Amy's video series on marriage at my church. This book is essential the same as that video series and I liked the book as much as I liked the videos.

Craig starts by asking, "What did you expect?" What did you expect from marriage? Did you enter marriage believing the Hollywood romance fantasies that you will always be in a fairytale marriage where everyday you felt deeply and madly in love with your spouse? On a personal note: I believe that Hollywood is one of the great enemies marriage has. The expectations it sets are unrealistic and can cause many couples to enter into marriage delusionally.

Craig then jumps into his five "rules" for having a successful marriage. They are:

Seek God
Fight Fair
Have Fun
Stay Pure
Never Give Up
These are, I believe, listed in listed in order of importance. Although, you may be able to argue that #3 and #4 could be switched.

Seek God. As a Christian, we know that we should seek God in everything we do. Marriage is no different. We should seek God and put him first. Yes, put him before your spouse. But seeking God first is not something we must do alone. It is something that we should share with our spouse. Craig lists some "Keystone Habits" that we should do:

Read God's word together
Worship together in church and at home
Engage with friends who also follow Christ
Use your gifts together in the church
Ask friends to hold you both accountable in your spiritual growth
Fight fair. Craig lists three main points in fighting fair. They are:

Be quick to listen
Be slow to speak
Be slow to anger
If you are a follower of Christ, these are not new concepts to you. But when applied to marriage conflict, they can be invaluable.

Have fun. Husbands will no doubt enjoy this chapter. Yes, Craig is talking about sex. What he calls belly-button-to-belly-button fun. But having fun as a couple is more than physical, it is also the emotional connection we create when just enjoying each other's company. It may be watching a movie, walking in the park, riding bikes at the beach, or even going shopping with your wife. Yes guys, sharing that kind of fun can help create great connections with your wife.

Stay pure. This chapter largely has to do with sexual impurity and is likely more geared toward husbands than wives. But wives can certainly get a lot from this section as well. What type of TV shows and movies do you watch? What type of talk do you engage in with friends. What type of thought do you indulge in? The enemy only needs a small crack in which to gain a foothold. Don't give him any foothold.

Never give up. There will be difficult times. It sometimes feels like we just need to throw our hands in the air and walk away. I know I have faced times like that. But we can't. We must not give up. Even in the face of adultery. Now if you're facing a violent relationship it may be necessary to do what you need to get yourself to safety. No one should allow themselves to be victims of violence.

Overall, I recommend this book to all married couples. I would even recommend this book to those thinking of getting married. there's plenty of information I wish I would have had before I got married. Not that it would have changed my mind. But it would have been easier to have had this from the start.

[Zee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just before reading this book, I looked through 7 Things He’ll Never Tell You: But You Need to Know by Kevin Leman and wasn’t impressed. Granted, there were a few things that were funny, but his statements like “You will never hear from your husband something like ‘How was your day, honey?'” are way too cliche. Firstly, because Sam does ask me how I am doing and, secondly, because it’s rather silly to use definitive “never” when talking about relationships.

When I started reading From This Day Forward by Craig and Amy Groeschel, I hoped it would not be so prejudiced – and I was glad to realize it wasn’t!

The book talks about five commitments that, if implemented and followed, will help the marriage thrive: seeking God together, fighting fair, having fun, staying pure – and NEVER giving up.

I liked (and already recommended) the book for several reasons:

It is written in an easy-to-understand style – even for someone for whom English is not a native language, it would be a good book to read (and learn English along the way!)
It includes good personal stories – serious as well as hilarious (oh, the pancakes:)
It is written mostly by Craig, but Amy also has her say in appendixes to the chapter. Therefore, you get double perspective – after all, a couple includes two people, right?
It is as good for those who are already married as for those who are thinking about it.
All in all, I think it is a good book on relationships.

[Michael Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book on marriage, I enjoyed it because it was a simple and easy read full of good encouragements. Pastor Craig Groeschel & his wife Amy do a great job walking through five important topics that are essential to every marriage. These five topics are: 1. Seek God, 2. Fight Fair, 3. Have Fun, 4. Stay Pure, 5. Never Give Up! In each of these they share from personal stories and scripture to back up their thoughts. This book would be great for those who are newly married or getting married soon to encourage them in what to do moving forward. This book is helpful and useful and my favorite thing about how it was written is it is simple and easy to read.

QUOTES

“Just remember: unhealthy couples fight dirty, to win; healthy couples fight clean, toward resolution” – Fight Fair, pg 63
“Now, if you’re already married, you need to pursue a different commitment: I will always seek the One with my two.” – Seek God, pg 29

“Even though you’re face to face, even thou you’re spending time together, you’re using it all up simply exchanging information, not communicating, not sharing your below-the-surface selves. It may be civil, but it’s not intimate. It may be practical, but it’s certainly not fun. And worst of all, it’s not working. Both of you need legitimate face-to-face fun." – Have Fun, pg 88

[Paige Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I love Craig's simple, straightforward style and how he always manages to present the core of his message in a way that is easy to understand and not cluttered up with a lot fluff. Unlike some marriage books that get too bogged down in complexities, this book focuses on five core actions (Seek God, Fight Fair, Have Fun, Stay Pure, Never Give Up) you can take that, over the course of time, will greatly increase the chances of you staying happily married. There no new, earth-shattering information that will change your life over-night in here, but there is a lot of really great reminders, enjoyable stories, and brutal honesty that will definitely motivate you to get back to work or to start working even harder on building a lasting marriage. Well worth the read!

Favorite Quote: " Face-to-face fun matter. So does side-to-side fun. And when you have had face-to-face and side-to-side fun, guess what that leads to? Belly-button-to-belly-button fun!"

[Kimberly Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book 3 stars for it’s simplicity, but I gave it 4 because I really appreciated that instead of spouting some new theory, the Groeschel’s went back to Scripture for this book. If you’ve read other Christian marriage and relationship books, you won’t find anything new here. The purpose of this straight forward book is to remind you of what you already know to do and to encourage you to keep on doing it. While Craig repeats himself throughout the chapters, I feel like the purpose of that is to drive his points home and keep you focused on the main ideas. And the stories they share from their experience add humor and personality. Overall it was a good reminder of what I need to be doing for my marriage to thrive and I would recommend this book to any couple, married or getting ready to be married.

[Cherie Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A refreshing, life-giving book on marriage with perspectives from both Groeschel and his wife Amy. This book gives a mix of practical and spiritual wisdom when it comes to cultivating a healthy marriage. The Groeschels share honest and vulnerable experiences from their own relationship to encourage others toward a marriage based first upon a love for God and then a love for each other. The work is incredible accessible, an easy and even humorous read and yet it challenges the reader to want more for their life and marriage. It's great for couples just beginning their journey or those who simply wish to remain married until death do us part.

[Hope Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

…Floss, Fight, Play, Belly-Button Time, Pancakes…

Ok, so the entire book can’t be summed up in five words, and neither can a marriage. Marriage is messy, complex, and dare I say character building. Each one is unique in it’s joys and it’s pitfalls. A simple 171 pages can’t touch on the complexities of every marriage guaranteeing that divorce will not occur. But it can provide important steps to safeguard against it.

Find out how I dressed it up to make it a reintegration tool
http://www.hopengriffin.com/divorce-p...

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, practical, powerful book on marriage, written in a style that is so easy to read.

Craig tells a lot of stories to highlight the importance of the 5 Commitments throughout, and those five commitments are:

1. Seek God
2. Fight Fair
3. Have Fun
4. Stay Pure
5. Never Give Up

If you're getting married or you're already married, this is definitely worth the little bit of time that it takes to read.

[Sarah Roberts Lundy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book with humor and great information. Finally someone stands up to say what is right and wrong with dating and marriage. I loved the scriptures too.
Love love love and will be recommending to more than just my bible study group. My husband also enjoyed the facts and comedy in his writing.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

From This Day Forward

Just like everything else that God presents to us as Christians, this book makes absolute sense. Love God. Love yourself. Love your spouse. Put God before all things and He will see that your needs are met throughout your marriage as well as your life. A much needed read for me and I sent a copy to a friend.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I think it makes very valid points on how to sustain a good marriage. It had a couple of things in it that I had never really thought about before. Loved that it had some scripture and also personal experiences. The author, Craig, has a good sense of humor that kept the book from feeling preachy and/or textbook-like.

[Joanne Goh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and easy read. Also funny and encouraging. Emphasizes marriage is serious business (it is a covenant after all, not a contract) but gives good advice. The fact that the wife's perspective wraps up each chapter is a nice balance and touch.

[Jason Grubbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked Craig Groechell's book on marriage. It was very simple and to the point as well as entertaining. This book would be good for couples to read together or as a small group study for couples.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seek God, fight fair, have fun, stay pure and never give up. This book is not light and fluffy. The authors use humor and personal stories to make you smile while providing solid Godly principles for a strong healthy marriage. Fabulous and quick read.

[Josh Smetzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy, practical read that still gets the point across.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book on Christian marriage and the successful practices to maintain one's marriage. My fiance, who does not read much, found it engaging and easy to get into.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

life changing if applied

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book. Such a fresh way to look at marriage how God intended it to be. I will most definitely. keep this book in my arsenal and re read!