A Word from Bob: I’ve collated today’s post from The Annual Guide to Biblical Counseling Resources: 2021 Edition. This guide provides 259 pages that collate 1,057 biblical counseling resources. Learn more about The Annual Guide here. Purchase a copy here.
Baker, Ernie. Help! Disability Pressures My Marriage!
Disability enters families in many different ways. Perhaps a genetic abnormality results in a child being born with a disability. Or perhaps a work injury renders a husband or wife unemployable or in need of 24/7 care. The possibilities are endless. Regardless of the cause, disability adds pressure to the marriage relationship. This mini-book is a gift to couples who are looking for biblical help to learn how to respond to their “new normal.”
Baker, Ernie. Help! I’m in Conflict
How does the gospel impact relationships? How does our relationship with Christ intersect
relationship tensions? What is the origin of conflict? What is going on in my heart that leads to my struggles with gentleness or lack of kindness or intolerance of others? These and many other matters are helpfully addressed in this mini-book by Ernie Baker.
Desiring God. Happily Ever After: 30 Devotions for Couples
If you’ve been married longer than a week or two, you know how the hard realities of life in a fallen age can come crashing in. Perhaps you had a season of “once upon a time,” but soon enough you realized that this marriage, in this world, is not yet your “happily ever after.” God designed marriage not as a trial to be endured, but as a pointer to and catalyst for your greatest joy. God didn’t design marriage to be your storybook ending, but a fresh beginning, to help get you ready for the true “happily ever after” when together we see our great Bridegroom face to face. The thirty devotional readings in Happily Ever After have been assembled to shape, challenge, and inspire you and your spouse’s vision of marriage.
Flood, Rob. With These Words: Five Communication Tools for Marriage and Life
This practical marriage resource by pastor and author Rob Flood not only explores why couples should grow in communication, but it addresses the how of communication. In this Christian Scripture-based marriage book, you will learn that God is for you and on your side as you press toward helpful, biblical communication based on Christian values.
Green, Rob. Can We Talk: The Art of Relationship Building
Another conversation ends in frustration or even anger. You want to communicate well and to grow deeper in your relationships, but either you can’t seem to find the words, or always seem to come up with the wrong ones. How can you develop greater intimacy if you can’t seem to have a productive conversation? Far more than simply offering techniques for learning to communicate effectively, Rob Green offers wisdom for getting to the heart of your communication struggles in Can We Talk? By helping you see how your desires motivate your speech, he draws you back to the gospel of Jesus Christ for freedom from old patterns of relating and for a heart that moves toward others in love.
Hoppe, Steve. Marriage Conflict: Talking as Teammates (A 31-Day Devotional for Life)
How we communicate with one another matters—especially in a marriage. The Bible reminds us to use words that build up our spouses, not tear them down. Whether your marriage is a verbal war zone or just needs a little help in the communication arena, both you and your spouse will benefit from the encouragement in these pages. This devotional is not a program to do better; it unveils how God helps you to be better. As you read through it as a team, meditating on Scripture, praying, and using the practical questions and action steps, you will learn to communicate with Christlike love, grow in holiness, and glorify God with your words.
Lane, Tim, and Paul Tripp. Relationships: A Mess Worth Making
Your best friend is suddenly cool and distant. Your spouse can’t stop complaining about your bad habits. Your son refuses to talk to you. What are you supposed to do? Plans A, B, and C might be to shut down, lash out, or get out. But consider Plan D: Recognize that God has the last word on those messy, conflict-ridden relationships. He can use them to make you into someone who can give and receive love with God and others. Tim Lane and Paul Tripp show you how God does it, and how it can happen for you.
Powlison, David. Renewing Marital Intimacy: Closing the Gap Between You and Your Spouse
You started out telling each other everything. Time flew by when you were together. It all seemed so easy then. But now it seems like there’s nothing to say. The intimacy and trust you once enjoyed are gone—replaced by bickering, long silences, and hurried conversations about your schedule. But it isn’t too late to renew intimacy in your marriage. David Powlison takes a close look at those things that destroy intimacy in marriage and shows how renewing your marriage begins with a renewed relationship with God. Then he offers practical steps to achieving closeness in your marriage.
Sande, Ken. Peacemaking for Families
Basic conflict-resolution skills found in Scripture can help you change your home from a battle zone to a love nest. Distinguishing between positive and negative conflict resolution, Peacemaking for Families introduces the reader to valuable principles such as “The Peacemaker’s Pledge,” the “Seven A’s of Forgiveness,” and the “PAUSE Principle of Negotiation.” Real-life stories and case studies help the reader to acquire the skills needed to create a true “peacemaking family.”
Scott, Stuart. Communication and Conflict Resolution: A Biblical Perspective
In Communication and Conflict Resolution, Stuart Scott powerfully outlines a heart-focused, biblical perspective on godly communication and loving conflict resolution.
Tada, Ken. For Better or Worse: When Disability Challenges Your Marriage
Disability has a way of trying even the best of marriages. The cumulative effects of daily routines that never vary, social isolation, financial pressures, unmet expectations, and a life that is vastly different from most couples can wear on the spirits of the strongest husband and wife. Without Christ firmly in the center of the suffering, a spouse can crack under the pressure that disability brings to the marriage. Ken Tada, husband to Joni Eareckson Tada, shares that disability does not have to be the defining word in your marriage. Instead disability is an invitation for you and your spouse to depend on Jesus in your weakness and grow closer to each other than you ever thought possible.
Tripp, Paul. War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles
“Talk” seems so normal, so ordinary, so harmless. Yet there are few things we do that are more important. And underneath the normality of it all is a great struggle, a war of words that we fight every day. Who hasn’t been hurt by the words of another? Who hasn’t regretted something they said? Recognizing that words are powerful, Paul Tripp shows us how the gospel transforms the way we communicate. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word, is the only hope for our words. In our war of words, He is the one who gives us the victory. Tripp directs us to a renewed reliance on our heavenly Father’s abundant grace and a more Christ-honoring, people-benefiting life of talk.
Join the Conversation
What additional biblical counseling resources would you recommend regarding marriage communication and resolving marital conflicts?
