The Love Dare

by Alex Kendrick

Paperback, 2013

Status

Available

Call number

242.644

Collections

Publication

B&H Books (2013), Edition: Revised, 256 pages

Description

Family & Relationships. Christian Nonfiction. Religion & Spirituality. Nonfiction. HTML: Unconditional love is eagerly promised at weddings, but rarely practiced in real life. As a result, romantic hopes are often replaced with disappointment in the home. But it doesn't have to stay that way. The Love Dare, the New York Times No. 1 best seller that has sold five million copies and was major plot device in the popular movie Fireproof, is a 40-day challenge for husbands and wives to understand and practice unconditional love. Whether your marriage is hanging by a thread or healthy and strong, The Love Dare is a journey you need to take. It's time to learn the keys to finding true intimacy and developing a dynamic marriage. This second edition also features a special link to a free online marriage evaluation, a new preface by Stephen and Alex Kendrick, minor text updates, and select testimonials from The Love Dare readers. Take the dare!.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member wiseasgandalf
Half of all marriages end in divorce. That means most marriage relationships are either severely dysfunctional or headed that way. What is the answer?

The Love Dare’s answer is that we don’t really understand how to live out the love that marriage requires. Inspired by the movie Fireproof, this
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book is a forty day devotional that covers various aspects of the true sacrificial love which is missing from many marriages.

There is a lot to like about this book. It clearly explains the nature of mature love & practically challenges you to live it out. It emphasizes how YOU have to be the one to take responsibility and change, regardless of how your partner does or does not respond, and it shows how the strength for that kind of love is powered by a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This book has had a powerful impact on thousands of people, and I am very thankful for the truth it teaches.

However, the book does have some shortcomings. First, the book is unnaturally constrained to fit the plot of the movie. The movie’s plot confronted the main character with his need for a personal relationship with God mid-way through, and so the book follows suit. Halfway through the forty days, we suddenly shift to a presentation of how living out sacrificial love should make one realize his absolute need for Christianity. For Christians reading a book on marriage, the discussion of how our relationship with Christ should structure our marital relationship should be foundational, should be page 1. On the other hand, a non-Christian reading the book frankly is unlikely to be impressed by this sudden foray into an altar call in the middle of the book.

Second, the book spends little time on the differing roles of the husband and wife in a marriage. From a Biblical standpoint, there are real & crucial differences in how a man loves & responds to his wife vs. how a woman loves & responds to her husband. The Love Dare doesn’t address these differing roles which are very important to the success of any Christian marriage.

Third, I felt there was this unwritten “if you do these steps your marriage will be transformed” aura to the book. While all marriages can benefit from going through this devotional, I think that many seriously troubled marriages will not have the movie’s storybook happy ending at the end of forty days. Consequently, I fear people will either conclude they failed in some way or that God failed in some way. Neither would be true. Many marriages need more than just a good devotional; they need intensive personal intervention by a person of wisdom such as a counselor or pastor plus two partners who are both committed and humble. In my experience true humility is seldom found in both halves of a troubled relationship.

The Love Dare is forty days of wisdom and challenge that will benefit any marriage; just don’t consider it to be the complete cure-all for every troubled relationship in the world.
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LibraryThing member Marynamo
This is no ordinary book, it is a tool. Use it and see how the spark in your marriage will flame up again. This book is highly recommende to anyone in a marriage or relationship. Al do yourself a favour and watch the movie. As indicated before, this is not a storybook, it is an essential tool. Love
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it!
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LibraryThing member drj
Written by the producers of the movie of the same title, this is a 40 day program to be done together by a couple to strengthen their marriage by studying the Bible verses and text together, writing their responses in the book, making it also a journal.
LibraryThing member longhorndaniel
A must read/watch story!!!!!!!!!!
LibraryThing member longhorndaniel
Great book for couples who not only want to get closer to each other but who want to get closer to Him
LibraryThing member SABC
This is a 40-day journey that challenges husbands and wives to understand and practice unconditional love and is for healthy, strong marriages or marriages hanging by a thread. Take the dare!

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2008

Physical description

256 p.; 5.5 inches

ISBN

1433679590 / 9781433679599

UPC

783324876239
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