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

Love Defined is the latest book from sisters Kristen Clark and Bethany Baird, the founders of GirlDefined Ministries. I think I first became familiar with GirlDefined through blog posts Bethany wrote for the Lies Young Women Believe blog. I really enjoyed her writing and decided to follow GirlDefined on all of their social media channels. Bethany and Kristen are faithful to teach young women about what womanhood looks like Biblically and I'm so thankful for their ministry. In Love Defined, Kristen and Bethany walk young Christian ladies through what romantic relationships and marriage look like according to Scripture. The book opens with them sharing individual stories of how they've experienced the hurt that can come from relationships and how the romantic ideals portrayed in Hollywood often leave much to desire. The transparency with which they tell their stories is refreshing. They write from a place of experience which I found to be very empathetic as the reader. I find that often, authors of Christian books can appear to have mastered the subject which they write about but this is not the case with Kristen and Bethany. Love Defined is a very wise and helpful resource because its principles are drawn from Scripture. The sisters point out multiple times that Christ ought to be the focus and foundation of every relationship and that the goal of romantic relationships and marriage is to point back to Him. Love Defined is full of practical ideas for employing wisdom in the relationship process and even covers important topics including how to be just friends with guys. Amongst the books available on Christian romantic relationships, Love Defined stands out because Kristen and Bethany wisely point out that romantic relationships, despite what title you may assign them, are not a one size fits all kind of deal. I was really encouraged by their faithfulness to include this thought in the book because it seems to be so lacking in similar titles. Love Defined includes study guides at the conclusion of each chapter so it is perfect to read individually or with a group. I really enjoyed Love Defined and I'm excited to see the impact it will have on the lives of the young ladies who read it! My only regret about Love Defined is that it wasn't written sooner - I would have loved to read Love Defined during the time when I was in the "relationshipping" stage. I received Love Defined compliments of Baker Books in exchange for my honest review.