21 Study Guides
Marriage & Relationships
Build stronger marriages and healthier relationships through honest group discussion. These guides tackle communication, boundaries, conflict, and what it looks like to love well.
Cherish
by Gary Thomas
Gary Thomas's Cherish begins with a simple but revolutionary premise: most Christian couples know they are supposed to love each other, but far fewer have learned to truly cherish each other. Drawing on the language of the traditional wedding vow — "to love and to cherish" — Thomas argues that cherishing is a distinct and essential practice, not merely a synonym for love. To cherish someone is to hold them as precious, to go out of your way to honor and protect them, to make sure the world sees the value you place in them. This is not a passive feeling but an active, daily choice — one that can transform a marriage from a state of mere survival into one of genuine flourishing.
View Discussion GuideThe Power of a Praying Wife
by Stormie Omartian
The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian has sold more than ten million copies because it speaks to a longing that lives in nearly every married woman's heart: the desire to see her husband become the man God created him to be. Stormie's central thesis is both simple and radical — a wife's most powerful act of love is not nagging, manipulating, or striving, but getting on her knees before God. Drawing from her own difficult early marriage, Stormie shows that prayer is not a last resort when everything else has failed; it is the first and most loving thing a wife can do. Each chapter focuses on a specific area of a husband's life — his spirit, his emotions, his role as a leader, his work, his protection, his faith — and invites the wife to pray with biblical specificity and personal vulnerability.
View Discussion GuideThe Love Dare
by Stephen Kendrick & Alex Kendrick
The Love Dare by Stephen and Alex Kendrick is a 40-day devotional journey designed to help married couples rediscover the power of unconditional love. Built around the premise that love is not merely a feeling but a daily choice and commitment, the book guides readers through a series of practical, intentional acts of love — one dare per day — drawn from the timeless description of love in 1 Corinthians 13. At its heart, The Love Dare argues that a marriage transformed by God's love is not only possible but is the very picture of Christ's own love for the church. Whether your marriage is struggling or simply in need of renewed intentionality, these dares invite you to move from passive affection to active, self-sacrificing love.
View Discussion GuideGood Boundaries and Goodbyes
by Lysa TerKeurst
Good Boundaries and Goodbyes by Lysa TerKeurst is a compassionate, theologically grounded guide for anyone who has ever felt trapped, exhausted, or confused by a difficult relationship. Drawing on thousands of hours of her own counseling intensives and extensive biblical research, Lysa dismantles the false idea that loving people well means accepting any treatment they dish out. Her central thesis is both simple and liberating: boundaries aren't just a good idea — they're a God idea. Through Scripture, honest personal storytelling, and the clinical wisdom of her counselor Jim Cress, Lysa helps readers move from paralyzing guilt to grounded, grace-filled action — whether that means setting a healthier limit with someone they love or, when necessary, saying a painful goodbye.
View Discussion GuideBoundaries in Marriage
by Henry Cloud & John Townsend
In Boundaries in Marriage, Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend argue that the healthiest marriages are not boundary-free unions where two people merge into one, but rather relationships between two distinct individuals who choose love freely, take personal responsibility seriously, and respect each other's separateness. Drawing on their landmark work in Boundaries, they apply the concept of property lines to marriage — showing that when spouses know where they end and their partner begins, love can flourish rather than stagnate into control, resentment, or codependency. The book's central conviction is that freedom and responsibility, working together, are the twin pillars of a thriving marriage.
View Discussion GuideFor Women Only
by Shaunti Feldhahn
For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn is a groundbreaking book born out of years of surveys and interviews with hundreds of men. Feldhahn's central thesis is simple but startling: the men in our lives — husbands, brothers, fathers, coworkers — are often experiencing inner thoughts, fears, needs, and desires that the women who love them don't know about and would never guess. The result is a persistent gap between the two sexes, not born out of hostility or indifference, but out of genuine ignorance. Feldhahn argues that when women understand what is actually happening inside a man's heart and mind, they gain the power to love more effectively, reduce conflict, and build deeper connection in every relationship.
View Discussion GuideSingle. Dating. Engaged. Married.
by Ben Stuart
Single, Dating, Engaged, Married by Ben Stuart is a practical and theologically grounded guide to navigating the four major seasons of relational life. Stuart's central thesis is that God is not absent from any stage of your love life — He has intentions, purposes, and gifts built into each one. Rather than treating singleness as a waiting room, dating as a minefield, or marriage as a finish line, Stuart invites readers to ask a better question: not "How do I get to the next stage?" but "How do I thrive — for God and for others — right where I am?" Drawing on Scripture, honest cultural observation, and pastoral warmth, Stuart walks through singleness, dating, engagement, and marriage as distinct seasons, each with its own beauty, its own dangers, and its own callings. This updated edition also includes a new chapter on how to end dating relationships well — a topic rarely addressed with this much care and wisdom.
View Discussion GuideYou and Me Forever
by Francis Chan
You and Me Forever by Francis and Lisa Chan is not a typical marriage book — and that is precisely the point. Rather than offering techniques for better communication or conflict resolution, the Chans make a bold, countercultural argument: the secret to a great marriage is to stop making your marriage the main thing. When two people fix their eyes on eternity and pursue God with radical devotion, they become the kind of spouses — and people — they were always meant to be. The book's thesis is simple but demanding: only when two people are right with God will they truly be right with each other.
View Discussion GuideThe Four Loves
by C.S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis's The Four Loves is one of the most illuminating explorations of love ever written by a Christian thinker. Drawing on the Greek language's four distinct words for love — Storge (affection), Philia (friendship), Eros (romantic love), and Agape (the love of God) — Lewis examines each with the clarity of a philosopher, the warmth of a pastor, and the honesty of a man who has himself known love's joys and its costs. His central argument is that the "natural loves" (affection, friendship, and eros) are genuine goods, but they are not self-sufficient. Left to themselves, they can curdle into possessiveness, exclusivity, or idolatry. Only when they are ordered beneath and permeated by Agape — God's own love poured out in Christ — do they become fully themselves and truly life-giving. As Lewis memorably writes, "To love at all is to be vulnerable," and it is precisely by accepting that vulnerability, not armoring against it, that we draw closer to God.
View Discussion GuideI Want to Trust You, but I Don't
by Lysa TerKeurst
Trust is the oxygen of every relationship — and when it's been stolen from you, breathing feels impossible. In I Want to Trust You, but I Don't, New York Times bestselling author Lysa TerKeurst walks alongside readers who have been burned by a friend's repeated letdowns, a leader's hidden hypocrisy, a spouse's betrayal, or a family member's cruelty. Rather than offering a quick fix or urging you to simply "trust more," Lysa argues that lasting resilience comes from building stability within yourself and with God — so that you stop carrying a broken belief system into every new relationship. The book equips readers to identify eleven relational red flags, ask honest "what if" questions about their fears, recognize when a fractured relationship can genuinely be repaired, and understand the physical, emotional, and neurological toll that betrayal takes on the whole person.
View Discussion GuidePassion and Purity
by Elisabeth Elliot
Elisabeth Elliot wrote Passion and Purity out of her own experience of loving Jim Elliot — a man she was not sure she would ever marry — and waiting on God through years of uncertainty, longing, and disciplined hope. The book's central argument is simple but countercultural: the passions God gives us are not meant to be suppressed or indulged, but offered back to Him as an act of trust and worship. Using her own love story as the primary illustration, Elliot weaves together personal memoir, letters exchanged with Jim, Scripture, poetry, and practical counsel to show that sexual purity is not merely a rule to follow but a posture of the heart — one that flows from the conviction that God is Lord of every desire, every relationship, and every unanswered prayer.
View Discussion GuideHis Needs, Her Needs
by Willard F. Harley Jr.
His Needs, Her Needs by Willard F. Harley Jr. is one of the most widely read and practically grounded books on marriage ever written. Harley's central thesis is both simple and striking: affairs don't happen because people are bad — they happen because needs go unmet. Drawing on decades of marriage counseling experience, Harley argues that every spouse carries an "emotional bank account," and when that account runs dry through neglect, the marriage becomes dangerously vulnerable to an affair. The antidote is not willpower or guilt — it is learning to identify your spouse's most important emotional needs and meeting them with consistent, loving effort. Harley organizes those needs around a revealing pattern: the five needs he finds most common in husbands and the five most common in wives are often quite different, creating a gap that, left unaddressed, quietly erodes the marriage from within. The book's goal is to help couples understand each other across that gap and become "irresistible" to one another — building what Harley calls an "affair-proof marriage."
View Discussion GuideRelationship Goals
by Michael Todd
Relationship Goals by Pastor Michael Todd is a candid, gospel-grounded guide to building the relationships you actually want — not the filtered, highlight-reel versions you see on social media. Drawing from his wildly popular, multi-million-view sermon series at Transformation Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Todd tackles the full spectrum of relationships: friendships, dating, engagement, marriage, sex, and the inner work required before any of those can truly flourish. His central thesis is simple but demanding: you will never reach a destination you haven't decided to aim for. Until you get intentional about your relationship goals — and let God set those goals — you'll keep settling for connections that look good on the outside but leave you empty on the inside.
View Discussion GuideThis Momentary Marriage
by John Piper
This Momentary Marriage by John Piper is a book-length meditation on what marriage is for — not primarily. It is a compelling, counter-cultural argument that marriage is not mainly about romance, companionship, or personal fulfillment, but about displaying the covenant-keeping love of Christ for his church. Drawing on Ephesians 5, Genesis 2, and decades of pastoral experience, Piper contends that the reason marriages fail — and the reason even good marriages stay disappointingly small — is that we have aimed too low. The book's animating thesis is captured in Piper's own words: "Most foundationally, marriage is the doing of God. And ultimately, marriage is the display of God." When couples see this, everything changes: the purpose of sex, the meaning of conflict, the weight of vows, and even the dignity of singleness and the pain of divorce are all transfigured by a bigger vision of what God is doing through the institution of marriage.
View Discussion GuideSafe People
by Henry Cloud & John Townsend
Safe People by Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend is a practical, biblically grounded guide to one of the most important decisions we make every day: who we let into our lives. The book's central thesis is that relationships are not just a matter of preference or luck — they are a matter of spiritual and emotional health. Unsafe people damage our souls, erode our confidence, and pull us away from the people God designed us to be. Safe people, by contrast, draw us closer to God and to our truest selves. Cloud and Townsend argue that most of us have predictable, often unconscious patterns that lead us to choose unsafe people — and that those patterns can be identified, understood, and changed with God's help and a healthy community.
View Discussion GuideWar Room
by Chris Fabry
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View Discussion GuideThe Meaning of Marriage
by Timothy Keller
Timothy Keller's The Meaning of Marriage (co-written with his wife Kathy Keller) is one of the most theologically rich and practically honest books about Christian marriage written in a generation. Drawing on decades of pastoral ministry in New York City, Keller argues that the Western cultural narrative about marriage — that it exists primarily to fulfill our individual emotional needs — is both deeply attractive and profoundly broken. Against that story, Keller sets the biblical vision: marriage is a covenant relationship that mirrors Christ's sacrificial, permanent love for the church, and it is precisely this "hard work" of covenant love that forges the deep friendship, intimacy, and joy that everyone wants from marriage. The book does not promise an easy path, but it promises a true and beautiful one.
View Discussion GuideThe 5 Love Languages
by Gary Chapman
Gary Chapman's The 5 Love Languages: Singles Edition takes his landmark framework — the idea that each person gives and receives love through one of five primary "languages" (Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch) — and applies it directly to the world of single adults. Whether you are single by choice, by circumstance, or by season, Chapman argues that understanding your own love language and the love languages of the people around you will transform every significant relationship in your life: friendships, family ties, coworker connections, and romantic relationships. The book's central thesis is that emotional love tanks run on the fuel of a specific love language, and that most relational breakdown happens not from a lack of love but from a failure to speak the right language.
View Discussion GuideSacred Marriage
by Gary Thomas
Gary Thomas opens Sacred Marriage with a question that reframes everything: "What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?" That single question is the engine of the entire book. Thomas argues that marriage is not primarily a romantic arrangement for personal fulfillment — it is a spiritual discipline, as rigorous and transforming as fasting, prayer, or solitude. Every frustration, every moment of tenderness, every season of boredom or passion in a marriage is raw material in God's hands for shaping us into the image of his Son. Sacred Marriage does not promise a better marriage by the time you finish it; it promises a better you — and a richer, more honest relationship with God.
View Discussion GuideLove and Respect
by Emerson Eggerichs
Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs is built around one foundational insight drawn from Ephesians 5:33: wives need love and husbands need respect — and when couples fail to meet these core needs, they spin into what Eggerichs calls the "Crazy Cycle." The book's thesis is both simple and revolutionary: a wife's greatest need is to feel unconditionally loved, and a husband's greatest need is to feel unconditionally respected. Neither need is more important than the other, and each spouse holds the key to breaking the Crazy Cycle by choosing to meet their partner's need regardless of whether their own need is currently being met. Eggerichs unpacks this through three major sections — the Crazy Cycle, the Energizing Cycle, and the Rewarded Cycle — offering couples a practical and biblically grounded framework for transforming their marriages.
View Discussion GuideBoundaries
by Henry Cloud
In Boundaries, Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend tackle one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Christian life: the idea that loving others well sometimes requires saying no. Drawing on Scripture, psychology, and decades of counseling experience, the authors argue that a "boundary" is a personal property line — a marker that defines where you end and someone else begins. Far from being selfish, they show that healthy limits are essential to love, responsibility, and spiritual maturity. The book walks readers through why so many Christians struggle to set boundaries, what the Bible actually teaches about personal responsibility, and how to apply these principles across every major relationship in life: parents, spouses, children, friends, coworkers, and even oneself.
View Discussion GuideMarriage & Relationships Studies — Questions Leaders Ask
- How many Marriage & Relationships study guides are there?
- 21 guides right now, listed above, out of 223 in the library. Each one is written for a specific published book: a reading, discussion questions, and a closing prayer for every week of it. Browse the whole library →
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- Marriage & Relationships guides run 8 to 16 weeks, one meeting a week, and each week has its own reading, discussion questions, and closing prayer. Groups that meet every other week or take a break for the holidays simply spread the same weeks further apart. Put your meetings on real dates →
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