Conflict. Every
married couple experiences it. It can often end with slamming doors and sulking
silence. Marriage would be perfect
if we could just get rid of the conflict. Right?
Not so, according to Dr. Greg Smalley author of the new
book, Fight Your Way To a Better
Marriage: How Healthy Conflict Can
Take You To Deeper Levels of Intimacy.
Conflict can be a good thing in a marriage when handled with
understanding, and Smalley lays out the groundwork for approaching inevitable
conflict between spouses.
Fight Your Way
examines the dynamics of conflicts – how simple disagreements can spiral wildly
out of control because our own heart issues, our tendency to listen to the
enemies lies, and our unwillingness to step back and examine ourselves.
Smalley’s balanced, Biblical advice cuts through the
confusion of cyclical conflict and gives a married couple a starting point to
begin establishing a trusting, openhearted relationship. Smalley sees conflict,
not as something to be avoided, but something to be walked through in order to
draw closer to a spouse, to draw closer to God, and to examine issues in our
own hearts that need dealt with.
Now it is true, there is nothing new under the sun, and,
quite frankly, Fight Your Way To a Better
Marriage really isn’t saying anything dramatically new. But I found Smalley’s take on marital
conflict easy to process, encouraging, and uncomplicated. But I also found it spiritually well grounded;
God taking center stage in the marriage journey.
As a bonus, Smalley’s writing style is humorous and
engaging, balancing solid counseling advice with stories of conflict lifted
from his own life.
Fight Your Way to a
Better Marriage will definitely equip husbands and wives with insight to
escape the bitter cycle of destructive contention and replace it with
conflict-solving skills that will strengthen and deepen any marriage.
Courtesy copy of Fight
Your Way To a Better Marriage obtained from Howard Books in exchange for an
honest review.
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