Your Marriage God’s Way: A Biblical Guide to a Christ-Centered Relationship is by Scott LaPierre, teaching pastor of Woodland Christian Church in Woodland, Washington. He also runs a nonprofit of the same name.
An earlier version of this review never named the author at all, which is worth fixing first.
Check which edition you are buying
There are two. The original, which this page links to, was self-published. It was later picked up and reissued by Harvest House under ISBN 9780736983969. The Harvest House edition is the edited, professionally produced version and is generally the better buy if both are available at a similar price.
What the book teaches
LaPierre’s organising idea is in the title: a marriage works when it is patterned on Christ and the church, from Ephesians 5, rather than on what the couple happens to want. He works through the text and applies it to the ordinary business of being married: communication, conflict, money, intimacy, and the drift that sets in when nobody is paying attention.
The most useful chapters are on the husband’s side of Ephesians 5. LaPierre spends real effort on what it costs a man to love his wife the way Christ loved the church, and he is direct that this is the harder assignment, not the privilege. For a man reading this alone, that is the part worth the money.
Where it goes further than we do
The book teaches distinct roles in marriage, including headship and submission, and it works out what that looks like in practice in some detail.
Our position at CalledToBetter is that men and women are equal in worth and dignity before God, and that Scripture describes distinct roles for them. We stop there and do not publish rulings on the contested specifics. LaPierre goes further, and you should know that is what you are buying. Christians who take Scripture just as seriously work out the specifics differently, and we are not going to tell you his application is the only faithful one.
What we will say is that he applies it to himself first. The book asks more of the husband than of the wife, which is the correct emphasis for a man reading it.
Readability
Plain and pastoral. LaPierre writes like someone who has counselled a lot of couples, with plenty of examples and no jargon. Chapters are a manageable length and there is discussion material, so it works for a couple reading together a chapter at a time.
The self-published original is rougher in places than the Harvest House edition. Nothing that obscures the argument, but the editing difference is noticeable.
Who it suits
Good for a husband who wants a straightforward, text-driven book on marriage and is comfortable with a complementarian application. Good for a couple to read together if you already broadly agree with that framework.
Not the pick if you want a book that leaves the roles question open, or if you want clinical help with a marriage in crisis. That needs counselling, not a book.
Bottom line
A solid, Ephesians 5 centred marriage book that asks the husband to carry the weight. More specific on roles than we are, honest about the cost to the man, and better bought in the Harvest House edition.
Check the current price of Your Marriage God’s Way on Amazon