Max Lucado’s Building a Godly Home is part of the Max on Life series, and it is short. Sixty-three pages, published by Integrity in 2007. Knowing that up front changes what you should expect from it.
What is in it
The publisher describes it as suggestions for building family love and harmony, paired with four interactive Bible studies that work for an individual or a small group. Four studies across 63 pages means each one is brief. This is an evening’s reading, or four short sittings if you use the studies as intended.
Lucado writes the way he always writes: plain, warm, story-first. If you have read anything of his you know whether that lands for you. For a dad who has never done a family devotional and feels awkward starting one, low-friction is a feature, not a weakness.
Check the format before you order
This is the part worth slowing down on. The Amazon listing for this ISBN is titled as a CD and book study package, and other retailers list the product as Building a Godly Home (With CD). We could not confirm from the current listing whether every copy still ships with the audio CD, or whether used copies include it. If the audio is the reason you are buying, message the seller or check the product images before you order. If you only want the printed booklet, you are probably fine either way, but go in knowing the product was built as a two-part package.
What we removed from this review
An earlier version of this page described reflection prompts and family discussion questions embedded in the chapters, and included a section of quoted reader reactions. Neither was verifiable. The publisher describes four interactive Bible studies and nothing more granular than that, and those quotes were not real. Both have been taken out. If the specific format of the studies matters to your plans, use the Look Inside preview before buying.
Bottom line
A gentle, very short starting point for a father who wants to lead something at home and does not know where to begin. It is not a substantial treatment of family discipleship, and at 63 pages it does not try to be. If you want depth on the same subject, look for a full-length book. If you want something you will actually finish this week, this qualifies.
View Building a Godly Home on Amazon