Book Review: Love Is by Alyssa and Jefferson Bethke
Book Review: Love Is by Alyssa and Jefferson Bethke
9 July 2022
In Love Is, authors Alyssa and Jefferson Bethke take on the lies that our fullness is found in marriage and that porn and casual hook-ups don’t harm anybody.
Usually, I hate reading Christian books about marriage and intimacy. These books, in my experience, are full of empty clichés and questionable interpretations of scripture, often with a bent towards promoting a “wives should submit to your husbands” message based on a poor interpretation of scripture.
Husband and wife team Jefferson and Alyssa Bethke co-author this book on living in a godly married relationship.
However, quite a few years ago, I came across Jefferson Bethke on Youtube, and I appreciated the way in which he communicated the gospel. So when I was offered Jefferson and Alyssa Bethke’s new book on love and marriage, I decided to pick it up and read it.
I have to report that yes, Love Is is cliché at points. Like many of their generation, Jeff and Alyssa tend to favour short, tweet-like statements that seem, at first glance, to be profound but turn out to be trite. Disappointingly, in her last chapter, Alyssa promotes the “wives submit to your husbands” lifestyle.
However, despite all of this, I liked this book. It is not just a book about marriage, but it is also the personal testimony of both Jeff and Alyssa. So, interspersed with the terrible cliches and things is the beautiful, encouraging story of two very different, broken people trying to establish and build an exclusive, intimate, encouraging and loving relationship. They share such a level of courageous vulnerability that it restores weight, substance and pure enjoyment to the reading of this book.
You may roll your eyes at some points, but I recommend reading Love Is.
Love Is is available at Christian bookstores.
Read more Jefferson Bethke reviews here: To Hell With The Hustle | Take Back Your Family
Comments
I love how you emphasize the importance of mutual support in marriage.