Marriage today can feel complicated and uncertain, with countless opinions about what makes a union successful. 

Yet, Christian faith offers more than just a beautiful Church wedding service—it offers practical wisdom and guidance for building a strong, covenantal marriage.

Anglican minister and pastoral counsellor Dr Ralph Bowles speaks about his recent book Marriage, The Christian Way (2025).

“There’s an awful lot of confusion now and diversity about different ideas about what marriage is about,” Dr Bowles said.

“This book is really me putting together the material and the thinking of my teaching ministry as well as my pastoral counselling ministry”.

Dr Bowles’s book draws on decades of pastoral experience and uses biblical principles and Anglican marriage traditions from the past and present.

Consisting of 31 brief chapters that explore a range of topics such as honouring God, purpose of marriage, spousal roles, partner intimacy, resolving conflict, forgiveness, divorce and much more.

“There’s a secret in marriage” Dr Bowles said.

“That it’s a sort of allegory or a picture of the Christian life, of our relationship to God… That would be the main golden thread of the book.”

According to Dr Ralph Bowles, a healthy marriage reveals values of the Christian faith, making this book a guide for couples and followers of Christ seeking to build a lifelong union in accordance with God’s design.

“I wrote it primarily for engaged couples who are serious about their faith and are motivated and interested to know what their faith has to say about being married… But more generally, all married people who are Christians.”

“And for other people who are outside the faith who are getting married and may be curious to know what the Christian faith has to offer for marriage.”

The book additionally addresses the confusion surrounding modern views of marriage.

“Marriage has been changing radically.” Dr Bowles said.

“I thought it was good to make the case for what you might call the traditional view of marriage, which has its roots, of course, in the Bible and the Christian faith.

Marriage, The Christian Way is available now.

Article supplied with thanks to 96five.

Feature image: Canva

Think back to a time when you were misunderstood.

What did you do next? Did you blame the others involved, either out loud or internally?

Or did you try what author Caroline Spencer suggests – in the title of her new book, Getting Over Yourself?

As Caroline said in our interview, she promotes “getting over yourself” by being deliberate, structured and disciplined about reflecting upon our interaction with others. If we pursue these opportunities for personal growth, she says, it can help us to live “more in tune with our principles and values”.

“For me, as a follower of Jesus, that means becoming more like him,” Caroline said.

The Four Stages of Self Reflection

Having spent years as a Christian communicator and leader with City Bible Forum and Moore College , Caroline says she has been diligent in her own process of letting go of self.

“I work on a healthy self-reflection habit,” she said. “I pick an experience I have had that bothers me for some reason, and there are four stages which I do.”

As outlined in detail in Getting Over Yourself, Caroline’s stages of self-reflection include scrutinising the experience, recognising what was important to her at the time, and assessing opportunities for growth.

“As a follower of Jesus, how does the Bible want me to live. [I ask myself] is there some sort of gap there in terms of how I was in that experience?” she said.

Such thorough self-examination can lead to changed behaviour in future interactions.

Caroline gave the example of how much she had recently ruminated on a meeting where she felt misunderstood.

Applying the steps of Getting Over Yourself helped her to realise the emphasis she had placed on being understood by all.

Further, she “looked for the good” from the experience, to combat her drift back toward its negative elements.

Encouraging us to “get over yourself” in all areas of life, Caroline has noticed changes in the outcomes of her interactions.

“Doing the self-reflection teaches me to ask more questions of my experiences, to challenge my assumptions, and to try to see things from different points of view,” Caroline said.

“I’ve noticed that I have taken those learnings into conversations with people. I’m better at listening now. I’m better at asking questions and hopefully making less assumptions.”

Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.

Feature image: Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash