Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Book Review: Love Defined by Kristen Clark & Bethany Baird


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Title: Love Defined: Embracing God's Vision for Lasting Love and Satisfying Relationships

Author: Kristen Clark & Bethany Baird

Series: Standalone

Genre: Christian Living/Non-ficion

Audience: Young Adult/Adult

Published: May 1st, 2018 (Baker Books)

ABOUT THE BOOK

Our culture is obsessed with love and romance - so why are so few women experiencing satisfying, long-term love?

In this insightful and encouraging book, sisters Kristen Clark and Bethany Baird help single women of all ages discover a radically better approach to navigating their love lives. Covering topics such as true love, romance, purposeful relationships, purity, boundaries, singleness, and glorifying God in every stage of our relationships, Love Defined unpacks God's original design for romance, showing modern women how to experience God's best for them in their relationships.

Full of biblical truths and step-by-step application of concepts discussed, the book also includes a chapter-by-chapter study guide to be used individually or in small groups, as well as four letters from godly women who have been married for 30, 40, and 50+ years, offering priceless, hard-won advice to single women.

~ My Review ~
**5 stars**

Love Defined is another incredible book from sisters Kristen Clark and Bethany Baird. After reading and loving their first book, Girl Defined, I was beyond excited to read a book from them about love and relationships. And, oh, I was not disappointed. With honesty, humor, wisdom, and real-life examples, Kristen and Bethany present a Biblically-sound and beautiful Christian Living book on navigating the world of romance.

I so enjoyed reading this book - finished it in under a week. It had a lot of insight and great advice to impart. I loved that there were chapters on ways to respond and steps to take when a man expresses an interest in you, and also red flags to watch for in relationships! The things shared in these chapters were so incredibly helpful. I know so many Christian girls/women are going to benefit from reading Love Defined!

The theme of this book is about radiantly glorifying God in how we respond to love and romance. Glorifying Him in our relationships. In our singleness. In our marriages. I've been gaining an understanding of how romantic love and marriage are so deeply entwined in pointing to God - His covenant love for us and Jesus Christ's relationship with the Church, His Bride. My future marriage (if that's in God's plan for my life) is going to be an exciting and amazing chance for me to illuminate my God and His love. Wow, this is powerful! And Love Defined just grew me in understanding this intriguing concept even better. Whether single or married, reading this book greatly encouraged me to get excited about making much of God's name wherever I am and in whatever I do.

A lovely thing about Love Defined is that it's written by a married woman and a single woman (they finished the book before Bethany entered her current relationship). It's great to get both perspectives - a peek into Kristen's marriage and awesome insight from Bethany's season of singleness. While writing this book, she was in her late twenties (twenty-nine?) with no idea if she'd ever marry. I'd say she knows a thing or two about singleness! It was so encouraging to hear from her on this topic. Finding satisfaction and joy in Christ alone is an amazing thing and I loved reading Bethany's story of finding that.

Truly, this is a book worth your time. I only wished I could have read it even before this! I really believe that God is going to use it to change women's perspectives on romance and marriage, and help girls who have the right heart - but are uncertain how to put this into practice - to figure out how to navigate these areas of life in a way that honors God, as they desire to!

Covering topics such as infatuation, romance, boundaries, warning signs in relationships, practical tips for approaching dating, friendship, singleness, being intentional, advice for marriage, sexual purity, and so on, it is packed with great content. I'm wanting to do a girl's Bible study with Love Defined now! Such a needed message! Definitely going to share with my seventeen-year-old sister.

I highly recommend to women! Love Defined is a must-read. I can hardly wait to read Kristen and Bethany's next book!

I received a copy of Love Defined from the authors and/or Baker Books in exchange for my honest review.


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6 comments:

  1. This looks so good! I've seen a lot of hype about this book and I really want to read it! It looks like it's so important for the world we live in right now.

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    1. It is amazing, Hanne T.! Yay! It really is. I hope you get a chance to read it, and it really blesses you! <3

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  2. I LOVE your review and how you brought up how it is written in two different perspectives! It's such a great read and I love how personal and interactive it is.

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    1. Thank you, Shannon! :) I so agree! Kristen and Bethany did an awesome job. I love what Shelley Black (author of Savoring Single) said about it ... something like: "It's a handbook for dating that every woman should have!"

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