✨ Disclaimer ✨
Thank you to NetGalley, Tyndale House Publishers, Focus on the Family, and the authors for this digital ARC! As always, my recommendation comes with my honest review and touchy topics listed below to help you make an informed decision.

✨ Review ✨
Y’all know I believe in the strong link between Christianity and psychology. Not only do they both exist simultaneously, but they complement one another incredibly well. Historically, there hasn’t been much to choose from in the world of literature that shows this invaluable link, but that is changing, and I am like a kid in a candy shop.

If you know me, you also know that I 🩵LOVE🩵 helping people. Lately, I’ve been discovering that helping people (especially young women) with their faith and with their marriage is such a blessing and an area I am prayerfully considering as a gift from the Lord -if anyone has made the switch from pursuing LPC to LMFT, please message me!

I say this next statement with excited sincerity; as someone who believes in the power of Godly marriage, is incredibly fulfilled in her faith and loves her husband and marriage, did not hate her first year of marriage, and has a Christian psychology degree, I BEG of you, please read this book.

If you’re:
💕 single
💕 dating
💕 engaged
💕 married
💕 separated
💕 not planning to be married but still have platonic relationships with others
💕 want to develop healthy communication habits and practice Godly self-care all while maintaining righteous boundaries
💕 are interested in marriage, conflict resolution, or Christian psychology as areas of study
💕 any of the above

You WILL find biblical truth, sound psychological advice, and practical steps you can apply in your life today within the pages of this book. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Content: 🍓🍓🍓

✨ Touchy Topics ✨
This is a nonfiction book with some (protected) real-life examples, but nothing is too heavy or intense. The reason for the 3 🍓 rating is I personally believe this book would benefit those aged eighteen and older based on typical development.

#bookreview #bookstagram #arcreview #releaseday #pubday #phd #christianpsychology #biblicalpsychology #empoweredtolove #selfcare #boundaries

Rating Scale:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: PERFECT. Probably cried
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Wonderful, just not top 10
⭐️⭐️⭐️: Good! Most books fit here
⭐️⭐️: Not really my cup of tea
⭐️: Basically DNF

Content Scale:

🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓: Squeaky clean!
🍓🍓🍓🍓: Appropriate for most readers
🍓🍓🍓: Heavy topics, likely 18+
🍓🍓: Intense scenes about heavy topics
🍓: Tread lightly

As much as we all want to live happily ever after, it turns out married couples need to actually do a little something to maintain a long lasting, happy and fulfilling marriage.
But it doesn't have to depend on both couples doing the work or going to counseling /therapy. Sometimes (often), one person doing work can also make for a successful marriage.
Sometimes we take in more than we should, and other times we shirk our responsibilities and resort to blame (unhealthy.)

The authors of Empowered to Love guide the reader through some helpful steps to work through and towards the type of relationship the reader is likely looking for.
And guess what? It starts with looking at oneself, figuring out who you are and what you want and where the control lies, all with our hearts set ultimately on Christ on.

Biblical references are applied throughout.

I can see this as a helpful resource to a Christian looking to better their marriage. Much of the info I've seen elsewhere (even in secular self help resources), but it may be better received for some through the Christian lens.

Marriage could be boring and not going to what we expect from marriage, which is fulfilling and intimate. That is why, we think that we are not compatible anymore and response with our egoistic behavior and not with God's way. This book empowers us to love again our spouse, to confess sin, and to forgive each other.

This book was interesting. As a newlywed I was excited to hear more. Unfortunately, the book just didn’t hold my attention how I hoped it would. There were certain parts of this book I found helpful!

This book left me thinking and was incredibly encouraging. I'm still thinking about the way to handle connection versus conflict. I love how the authors talked about when you're in a marriage it's a win-win situation and to settle for less isn't acceptable. Both authors were really encouraging with their stories about their own marriages and I believe they will encourage many.