What Did You Expect?

This book, by Paul David Tripp, is an excellent look at marriage as a sanctifying gift from God. I really appreciate the honesty in the book and real examples of people who have been in the trenches and seen God work, as well as Tripp's own struggles. It challenges us to ask ourselves whose kingdom are we living for, God's or our own and how we live for God's Kingdom together. Tripp also reminds us that marriage is a daily battle of fighting sin and seeking God and His Kingdom first. Our trouble in marriage is a worship problem not an us vs them problem. When we seek to worship ourselves and see our own Kingdom we have discord. When we seek to worship God and His Kingdom we have unity. It's a commitment.

Tripp gives us 6 commitments to strive for in our marriages with the help of Christ:

1. We will give ourselves to a regular lifestyle of confession and forgiveness
2. We will make growth and change our daily agenda
3. We will work together to build a sturdy bond of trust
4. We will commit to building a relationship of love
5. We will deal with our differences with appreciation and grace
6. We will work to protect our marriage

These are great commitments to work for by God's grace to strive to live like Christ and for Christ to be reflected in our marriage.

For content I would give this book 5 stars.

Stylistically I would only give this book 3 stars as he is repetitive and I felt like things could have been arranged better. These personal preferences would not keep me from recommending this book to others as an excellent resource to help in seeking God in their marriage.