Build a Stronger Marriage: The Path to Oneness

Ask the Christian Counselor

by Bob Lepine

"Bob Lepine helps you work through the challenges that emerge in every marriage, causing couples to become isolated and alienated. He helps you make the adjustments necessary to build the kind of marriage God intends for you to have and encourages you back on the path to oneness"--

Genres: Marriage, Counselling

114 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 26, 2022

About the author

Bob Lepine is the co-host of the popular daily radio program "Family Life Today," a nationally syndicated radio program heard in more than 200 cities across the country. A frequent speaker at Family Life Marriage Conferences, he lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Reviews

[Brandon Sickling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little for pre-marriage, struggling marriages, or marriages that just want to be stronger. Only the second title in this biblical counseling series that I have read. But I’m strongly considering ordering the whole set for the church library and my own personal use.

[Mark Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read with a group of newly weds at our church.

Targeting couples who are struggling in marriage. Practical. Realistic. Grounded in the gospel. Short, punchy chapters.

Really appreciated the practical application exercises at the end of each chapter.

[Brooke Keinath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book!! 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[Nicole Brockwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good reminders. I think the ideal reader of this may be one who has been married a few years and needs a refresher course. The last 1-2 chapters were the most applicable to me and I found them helpful. Definitely recommend.

Listened on Libby. Since I’ve listened to Bob Lepine for nearly 20 years, I was disappointed that he didn’t narrate this himself. S*x is mentioned because it’s a part of marriage.

[Alyssa Bohon]

Quick read - sensible, Biblical, not profound.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super quick read, but so good that I plan to go back through it very slowly and hope my spouse will as well. Super practical, Scriptural, actionable.

[Andrew Krom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book on marriage is easy to walk through and will create good conversations with your spouse. Personally, I believe it would work best for a couple that has been married over a year.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aimed at couples in struggling marriages, this book is gospel-focussed giving hope and guidance. He begins with the wrong expectations many bring to marriage, as well as the main areas of the past that influence a marriage: family of origin issues, childhood trauma, issues of shame and guilt related to sex, and unaddressed relational wounds. The reader is then brought back to their restoration in Christ, and the encouragement that our past does not define our future.

Lepine proposes that the essentials in marriage are: putting anger to death, determining when to overlook things and when to confront, and the crucial role of repentance, confession, and forgiveness. Encouraging us to put off sin, and put on the fruits of the spirit, he posits four best practices of marriage - generous forgiveness, extravagant love, enthusiastic encouragement, and common convictions. 


The chapters are punchily short, but with enough content to consider, challenge, and engage with, as well as illustrations and examples to make his points clearer. Each ends with “Practical steps for real change” where the real work is done personally. The focus is on you (not your spouse) because the only person you can change is you. Obviously, couples that do this together with a desire for change will reap the most benefit.