The Meaning of Marriage: A Couple's Devotional: A Year of Daily Devotions

by Timothy J. Keller, Kathy Keller

From New York Times bestselling authors Timothy Keller and Kathy Keller comes a gorgeously packaged daily devotional that takes us on year-long journey into discovering the meaning of marriage

Marriage is the most profound human relationship there is. Coming to know and love your spouse is one of the most rewarding and wondrous things we can experience in life. But it is also one of the most difficult and painful. In this 365-day devotional, Timothy Keller and his wife of forty-three years, Kathy Keller, share powerful instructions on how to have a successful marriage. The Kellers draw from and expand upon lessons they first introduced in their book The Meaning of Marriage, offering stories, daily scriptures, and prayer prompts that will inspire anyone who wants to know God and love more deeply in this life.

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

400 pages, Hardcover

First published November 5, 2019

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Timothy Keller was the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, which he started in 1989 with his wife, Kathy, and three young sons. For over twenty years he has led a diverse congregation of young professionals that has grown to a weekly attendance of over 5,000.

He was also Chairman of Redeemer City to City, which starts new churches in New York and other global cities, and publishes books and resources for faith in an urban culture. In over ten years they have helped to launch over 250 churches in 48 cities. More recently, Dr. Keller’s books, including the New York Times bestselling The Reason for God and The Prodigal God, have sold over 1 million copies and been translated into 15 languages.

Christianity Today has said, “Fifty years from now, if evangelical Christians are widely known for their love of cities, their commitment to mercy and justice, and their love of their neighbors, Tim Keller will be remembered as a pioneer of the new urban Christians.”

Dr. Keller was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and educated at Bucknell University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Westminster Theological Seminary. He previously served as the pastor of West Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Hopewell, Virginia, Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, and Director of Mercy Ministries for the Presbyterian Church in America.

Reviews

[Blair Stretch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deep Christian devotional that will serve any couple who's willing to engage it. This little book had an amazing effect on my marriage over the year of reading together.

[Meggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly, a daily devotion treatment of Kellers’ excellent marriage book was a disappointment. In similar style to previous daily devotions this includes scripture, meditation and prayer. However, only one week per month included scripture, the remaining weeks were excerpts from the book. It was disappointing not to be led through what scripture has to say about marriage.

We also found many of the topics repetitive and/or not applicable. Singleness was addressed to great length. Comparing the world’s view of marriage to Christianity was discussed frequently. While there were some days that encouraged good discussion on marriage, not nearly enough. At times this felt like more of a book talking about what marriage is, rather than seeking to strengthen a marriage and deepen it in scripture.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband and I enjoyed going through this devotional together this year. Each day contained a short reading and a discussion prompt. The topics got repetitive at times, and I would have preferred if the content hadn’t been stretched into 365 days. I still highly recommend this for couples, and we plan to read Keller’s year of devotions from Proverbs together in 2021!

[Scott Kedersha · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. Biblical, real, smart. One of the best devotionals I've ever been through.

[Carissa-Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A meaningful, thoughtful, and biblical study. We had some great (and sometimes hard) conversations through these short devotions and really appreciated the insight given.

[AcademicEditor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't read a "devotional" before so I was curious to look into it. This book is structured with one page per day, with a scriptural thought, points to reflect on, and things to pray about. Despite some doctrinal differences from my own beliefs, I thought the book was well-written and useful as a starting point for reflection. The authors have an eloquent writing style, and they supply academic-style notes for some of their references. They also quote a variety of interesting authors, and I am a sucker for a good quotation.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC.

[Sherry Parker-Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

My husband and I started this daily devotion over a year and a half ago. We got through it with interruptions for other specific liturgical year devotionals. I found the Kellers’ “Christian world view” limiting and laced with a cultural bias that informs their biblical interpretation. I would not recommend this book for married or engaged couples. There are so many better resources . Of course, I know my cultural bias affects my reading of the Bible and I work hard to lean toward grace. I will say that the Kellers’ reflections made for lively discussion in our daily devotion times, and while we did not agree with their narrow view of marriage or roles within marriage, reading the book forced us to better articulate our own perspectives and search scripture for direction.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really great devotion that covers a lot of topics in a Christ-exalting manner. Even in the small areas we didn't fully agree on theologically, we were able to gain a lot still. We only wished that there was more Bible quotes and less quotes from the original book.

Tim Keller (and his wife) is one of my favorite modern authors of all time. I have read a number of his books with joy. We are thankful for his ministry.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Keller is the Yoda of pastors.

The daily office is an Anglican tradition that dates back to 1549 and is more widely known as a devotional. This is the first of Keller's three devotional I've completed and am glad I did. Since it was focused on marriage, I particularly enjoyed his wife's points of view. Some days were more challenging than others but it was nice to begin each day with a biblical focus on the meaning of marriage.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick daily devotion we could easily read and talk through while we got ready for the day. Some of the days were pretty repetitive. It’s also written for couples who have been married longer than one year, so I look forward to reading through this again in a few years when we have more years of marriage to reflect on.

[Marlise · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book feels juvenile. It might be good for very you g newlyweds but it’s not very helpful for this 21 years married, 40-something couple. Also, there are no scripture references whatsoever - it seems wrong to call it a devotional. I had to DNF it.

[David Skeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent way to take insights about marriage from the Kellers and to reflect on them through the year. This is a supplemental devotional: the daily passages often refer to their book, and they do not always contain Bible references.

[Isaiah Espinoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth It

This devotional takes pieces of the book, The Meaning of Marriage and then delves deeper into the text. It follows with a short discussion and a thought for prayer. Worth the buy so you and your spouse can read together and discuss.

[Joanna Fruhauf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book, husband I used it together and enjoyed it! A wonderful year-long devotional for couples. The readings are short, thoughtful, and always grounded in Scripture. Great for sparking conversation, prayer, and deeper connection in marriage.

[Jenny Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful and full of examples from real life.

[Ellen Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written devotional for couples designed to read one page per day. The authors provide notes and references to other resources which I found helpful. I found it to be very useful.

[Jessica Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book blessed me immensely. I read it alone but it was still great. Learned a lot.

[Rachel Warner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great daily devotional for promoting strong marriages!

[Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep. No surprise, it's great.

[Sean Perron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hit or miss days. A strange devotional.

[Douglas Reis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as great as the other ones, but very insightful!

[Bill Pence · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Tim Keller and Kathy Keller’s third devotional book, with previous books on the Psalms (The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms) and Proverbs (God's Wisdom for Navigating Life: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Book of Proverbs), both of which were excellent and I used as a part of my devotional readings.
The Kellers wrote The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God in 2011. In the “Introduction” of this new devotional, Kathy Keller indicates that it is not necessary to have read the earlier book in order to benefit from the new devotional. She then recaps some of the basic themes of The Meaning of Marriage, such as:
• The main problem every marriage faces is the self-centeredness in both spouse’s hearts, and
• The essence of marriage is a covenant, a binding promise.
Kathy tells us that the purpose of this couple’s devotional is to provide an opportunity for sustained and practical reflection on love and marriage within a Christian perspective. The authors have both expanded on and broke down the themes and lessons into short meditations, looking at each concept in its various aspects and proposing application questions and practices. The devotional pulls out passages from The Meaning of Marriage and provides an opportunity to think out the personal implications of one very specific aspect of Christian marriage each day.
The devotional format is as follows:
• On the first week of each month, there is Scripture text regarding love, sex, and marriage, followed by a meditation on an aspect of the biblical teaching
• After that there is a reflection, which is a set of application questions, followed with a brief example of a prayer about the subject.
• On each day of the other three weeks of every month they begin with a quote from The Meaning of Marriage instead of a Bible verse, followed by a meditation and a reflection.
• Lastly, there is a “Thought for prayer” that gives some ideas for how you can pray the topic of the day into your heart and life.
While The Meaning of Marriage was not written only for married couples, the devotional is designed for married couples, as well as unmarried couples who are engaged or who are considering marriage. The devotional can either be read aloud to each other, or read individually. If it is read individually, each person should write down their thoughts, and regularly meet with their spouse to discuss their insights and findings.
I look forward to using this book with my wife as a part of our devotional readings.

[Joel Kersey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this devotional for couples to read together. In 15 minutes a couple can experience real, sanctifying growth and spiritual maturity by reading through this together and having honest discussions with one another using the suggested discussions. The prayers suggested at the end of each devotional are also a beneficial way for couples to grow more together in prayer life with one another and for one another.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was a recommendation but it was awful. The couple writing this book should not be married.