Many godly men and women have put pen to paper and produced wonderfully God-exalting books about marriage. It is with great humility (and some frayed nerves) that I offer this simple work to you, my brother, for your joy and the glory of God. In one sense, the sacred institution of marriage has always suffered violence at the hands of our spiritual enemy and man’s own inherent depravity. However, our day is one in which the Christ-magnifying institution of marriage is enduring not merely bullets and hand grenades, but atomic bombs.
The aim of this book is simple yet multifaceted. I want to lovingly charge Christian men to embrace the well-known yet seldom-lived call of Ephesians chapter five: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25). 1 Additionally, I want to offer practical nuts-and-bolts advice for men to prayerfully and joyfully enact in their homes and marriages.
This is not a book of mere principles and steps to a better marriage; it will require faith, sacrifice, and dogged trust in the promises of the gospel. Although imperfect, I can gladly say that God has blessed my marriage to Tanya, and I have found more joy in Christ through the experience of marital union than nearly anywhere else. It is from my overflow of joy in God’s good design that I write this book. I sincerely hope that you will be encouraged, challenged, refreshed, inspired, convicted, and strengthened by the pages ahead.
J. Aaron White