The Wholehearted Marriage: Fully Engaging Your Most Important Relationship

by Greg Smalley

The Wholehearted Marriage offers practical tools for helping couples keep a passionate connection with one another and understand the role their hearts play in their lives. Drs. Smalley and Stoever maintain that circumstances, such as busy lifestyles, differences between spouses, personal baggage, the loss of a loved one, childhood trauma, etc., trigger reactions that condition us to close up our hearts for protection, blocking the flow of love. A disengaged, protected heart makes it impossible to experience an intimate, connected marriage. As a result, couples drift apart, trying to find some version of contentment, or they give up altogether and look for love somewhere else.

Through their experiences in marriage counseling, Drs. Smalley and Stoever discovered that the commonly heard phrase "I don't love him/her anymore" is merely a camouflaged misunderstanding about what true love is and God's design for it. They affirm that love is more than just a feeling, and that to have true, lasting intimacy, couples need to learn to love wholeheartedly.

Genres: Marriage, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Kathryn Sneed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book for free on a website, with the only reason being I had to read and review it. Being newly married, I was looking forward to reading a book about marriage, because I know that getting encouragement and reading and learning about other's experiences could only be a help. I know there are many books out there about marriage and it's hard to find the right one you want to read, because who is to say it will help you or not?

Many people know Gary Smalley, the writer of over 28 books on marriage and other topics, but now his son Greg Smalley is following in his footsteps to write books, and bring marriages together. Greg Smalley, co-authors this book with Shawn Stoever and together they make a great team! Their humor lights up the pages and makes for fast reading, and the things they share really make the book become real. They give personal life stories, tons of examples, and really share their hearts on the matter of living and loving whole-heartedly.

Not only did I learn about marriage and what it really takes to make a great marriage, but I learned a lot about myself. This book shows that no marriage is perfect, but every marriage can have the chance to last a lifetime. It just starts with the heart! Come along this journey and discover things you never knew about your spouse, your marriage, and yourself!

[Darice Jamison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should have to read this before they get married or when they first marry. Then again at various marriage milestones to remember. I bought a copy to save for each I my kids for when they marry, and I have shared this book with friend. The writers are very real, sharing their own examples throughout the book. It is not dry reading, the writers are funny and engaging!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book full of great insights that I really appreciated, as well as the typical information found in most Christian Marriage books. In the end, the genuinely interesting parts outweighed the mediocre parts, so I would recommend this book more than a lot of other Christian Marriage books that I've read.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors do a good job of encouraging you to love your partner with no reservations. We found good advice and encouragement to not let our marriage grow stale. We've read several marriage books lately, and this one will stay near the top of the stack.

[Tony Fernandez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of fluff. Skip to the last chapter or two

[Erin Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts off strong but then doesn't really follow through. Definitely one for couples to read together. Doesn't do much for just one of the pair to read.

[Liz McCrodden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book but a little too many references to the bible