"The Love and Respect Experience" by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

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Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. The Love & Respect Experience: A Husband-Friendly Devotional That Wives Truly Love. Thomas Nelson, 2011. 320 pgs.

Reviewing a book such as this can be difficult. Devotionals and prayer books are designed to be ready slowly, one day at a time, over weeks, months, or even years. As a reviewer I am rarely given the time to take such an approach to a book. Add to that the fact that this devotional in particular is designed to be done as a couple and the difficulty doubles. The result is that I often feel obliged to begin my review with a caveat about how I did not read the book as intended and that this may have skewed my review. In this case, however, I am able to review with confidence despite these difficulties.

You may have heard of Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. He is the author of the book this devotional is based on, as well as a companion workbook , both of which have done very well. One of the pastors at my church recently used it as a text for a Sunday school class. The basic concept comes out of Ephesians 5:33; that husbands need to show love to their wives and wives need to show respect to their husbands, and understanding these things will aid your marriage. With this in mind, Eggerichs has prepared fifty-two devotions for husbands and wives to do together (in various possible ways) which explore this concept further and in specific, practical, ways.

As my wife can testify, I find many devotional books to be quite lacking. They can be shallow, wishy-washy, full of theological and biblical errors, or just plain unhelpful. This book, however, was none of the above. I think that by virtue of focusing on a specific issue (love and respect in marriage) it is able to offer interesting and helpful insights and thoughts, and to do so in a way that is helpful to husbands and wives. Naturally quality varies, but if you take it for what it is (a way to enrich your marriage through discussion and focusing on common ideas together which are designed to help you love and respect one another) then it is a good book.

Conclusion: 4 Stars. Conditionally Recommended. Obviously you will not find this book helpful outside of the marriage context.


"Book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Thomas Nelson". 

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