The 7 Best Christian Books You Need To Read Before Marriage

What are the best Christian books to read before marriage?

Preparing for marriage begins, well, right away! When you are single you can prepare for marriage in every aspect of your life, and when you are dating and engaged you can crack down even harder.

When I met my husband for the first time we went out to dinner and I told everyone when I got home that “I just met the man I am going to marry!” It was so terrifying and exciting at the same time. And being the researcher I am, I started looking up all Christian marriage books right away.

I’m not joking when I say I pretty much read all of them! My love to read and gain more knowledge drove me to create this ultimate guide of the best Christian books to read before marriage.

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Each of these books gave me a unique perspective or different way of looking ahead to what life as a wife would one day be. They helped me know what to expect, what to look out for, and what to change in my own life so that God could use me in the best possible way as I entered the new role of wife and eventually (Lord-willing) mother.

I would recommend you start reading these when you are seriously dating with the intent of marriage, courting, or engaged to help you prepare your heart during that season.

The best advice I received during the engagement season was “Prepare for your Marriage, Not your Wedding.” And while planning for a wedding is necessary, and let’s be honest pretty fun, it is also not going to last.

In fact, it goes by extremely fast. But your marriage will last. It will be there day-in and day-out and preparing for it now, in the season of dating or engagement, is the time to get going!

Some of these books my husband and I read during our pre-marital counseling with our pastor and his wife during our engagement. Reading these books together is a great tool to help you start learning to communicate better with each other and grow in the best possible ways.

And, I think it goes without saying, but the best possible book is the Bible itself. Wisdom comes from trusting in Christ and seeking Him. Start with the Bible, have quiet time alone with Him (I like to call it TAWG time – Time Alone With God), and pray without ceasing for His guidance in this area of your life.

Did you know this post is part of a fun series about our love story? Make sure you check them all out here!

1. Our Love Story
2. Why We Waited To Kiss and Have Sex Till Marriage
3. 4 Practical Dating Tips for Christian Women In Their Early 20’s
4. The 7 Best Christian Books You Need To Read Before Marriage
5. How To Accomplish A Gorgeous Wedding For Only $2,000
6. How To Easily Prevent Pregnancy Without Birth Control
7. 6 Things I Learned In The First Three Months Of Marriage
8. 13 Surprising Benefits When You Get Married Young
9. How To Plan A Remote Honeymoon In The Mountains
10. How To Keep Your House Clean With Puppies

Now onto the best books Christian books to read before marriage! These are listed in no particular order, as each has different strengths. I recommend them all for different reasons, as you will read below…

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The Best Christian Books To Read Before Marriage

1. Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, The Respect He Desperately Needs by Emerson Eggerichs

Check it out on Amazon here!

I particularly liked this book because it highlights the differences between men and women so well, and gives very practical solutions on how to consider, notice, and act according to the differences. As much as a woman needs to feel loved, so does a man need to feel respected.

Eggerichs describes being caught in a cycle of unlove and disrespect or a cycle of love and respect. You either push each other in a negative or positive direction and he helps you discover how to identify, strengthen, or escape the cycle you are in.

This book taught me so much about what my husband needs to feel respected in our marriage. I highly recommend it making it one of the best Christian books to read before marriage!

2. His Needs, Her Needs: Building An Affair-Proof Marriage by Willard Harley

Check it out on Amazon here!

Similar to Love and Respect, as I talked about above, this book is one of the best Christian books to read before marriage because it helps you see the other’s perspective. So many times in marriage the gender differences can cause the greatest conflict because each spouse sees a different side.

When my husband hit a deer the other week, he was so happy to have deer meat for the family, but I was concerned about the vehicle, worrying about safety and caring for him. Our gender differences spoke loud and clear in that moment and I remember that this book was a great resource for me to understand my husband’s point of view.

Harley helps you recognize the other spouse’s needs, understand those needs, and then meet those needs. I highly recommend this book for everyone to read before marriage, Christian or not!

3. For Women Only: What You Need To Know About The Inner Lives of Men by Shaunti Christine Feldhahn

Check it out on Amazon here!

I remember as a young girl reading Feldhahn’s version “For Young Women Only” and it was the first time that I realized the gender differences between men and women. Since I didn’t grow up with brothers, this helped me recognize things about young men that I never had.

When I was engaged and about to marry the man of my dreams, I was excited to pick up the “grown-up” version. Feldhahn’s books contain a lot of metrics and stats, and if you’re anything like me I strive ff f measuring things. Her stats show you the evidence that God created men with different goals, dreams, and visions than women.

This is one of the best Christian books to read before marriage because it shows you how to relate to your future husband better. It takes some of the ignorance out of entering into a marriage covenant and set’s your marriage up for success.

4. The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the wisdom of God by Timothy Keller

Check it out on Amazon here!

My fiancé and I loved this book! We read it on our own shortly after we got engaged and then discussed it with our pastor and his wife in pre-marital counseling. In fact, I even read it twice!

Keller gets down to the heart of marriage in this book. Why did God create marriage? What does a godly marriage look like? What is the purpose of your marriage?

There is a video series to go along with it that you can check out here as well. Our pastor and his wife watched one of the videos with us each week and then we would discuss. It opened up so many good conversations and reminded us to always keep God at the center of our marriage.

5. 10 Great Dates Before You Say “I Do” by David Arp

Check it out on Amazon here!

I read this book, but to be honest, we never followed through. With having such a short engagement, we didn’t take the time to map out the 10 dates in the book. However, we did still cover most of the questions he highlights.

This book is designed to set you up for marriage in the best possible by truly getting to know your spouse through each of the dates. There are questions to ask and discuss with each date and he definitely doesn’t leave anything out!

If you have the time to set up these 10 dates before marriage, then I encourage you to do so. You will learn so much about each other, no doubt about it. Nothing will go unmissed and you will have lots of fantastic memories and conversations by the end of it.

6. The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian

Check it out on Amazon here!

Wow, this book was fantastic.

My husband and I met on a dating app and after our first date, I knew he was the man I was going to marry. That day, I started a prayer journal for him. Each day, I wrote a memory down and a prayer I had for him.

After a month or so of doing the journal, I found this book. It was a guide for me during a full month of praying for my husband and writing down the prayers I had for him.

Each day is a different topic to pray for and has a prayer written out, an easy way to always be praying for your future husband. Even now, after marriage, I turn back to this book often because it helps me make intentional prayers for my husband and reminds me of specific areas in his life that I want to be praying for him.

7. The Sacred Search: What If It’s Not About Who You Marry, But Why? by Gary Thomas

Check it out on Amazon here!

This is another one of the best Christian books to read before marriage because it gets down to what really matters. Your wedding day will be fantastic, but it’s only a day. Your marriage is what is going to last.

That’s why it is so important to plan for your marriage more than you plan for your wedding.

I loved this book because it gets your motivation in check. Are you getting married because everyone else is? Because you can’t stand to wait any longer? Or because God is truly calling you to marriage at this time in your life?

A great read for every engaged couple!

Well, there you have it – The 7 Best Christian Books You Need To Read Before Marriage. Pick these up today from Amazon or your local library and get reading. It is so important to prepare for a God-honoring and Christ-centered marriage, and these books will help you do just that!

Because I love to read, here are some other books I enjoyed reading during engagement. I definitely recommend these just as highly!

BONUS BOOKS:

The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman

Sacred Marriage: What If God Designed Marriage To Make Us Holy More Than To Make Us Happy? by Gary Thomas

Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How To Say No To Take Control Of Your Life by Henry Cloud

Natural Family Planning: The Complete Approach by John F. Kippley

Natural Birth Control Made Simple by Barbara Kass-Annese

You and Me Forever: Marriage In Light of Eternity by Francis Chan

Intimate Issues: Conversations Woman to Woman, 21 Questions Women Ask About Sex by Linda Dillow

A Celebration Of Sex by Douglas Rosenau

Sheet Music by Kevin Leman

Intended For Pleasure by Ed Wheat and Gaye Wheat

Past the engagement season or nearing the end? What was your favorite book to read to prepare for marriage? Let me know in the comments below!

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Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma

Hey there, I'm Kelsey! I'm so glad you are here. I'm a 20-something helping you live your most fulfilling life. I hope you'll join me in this old-fashioned & simple lifestyle!

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