[NASHVILLE, TENN., May 18, 2020—] In a culture where love is defined by pop songs and romantic comedies, it’s not surprising that many marriages don’t last, and many married couples are struggling to stay together. Bob Lepine, marriage and family expert and host of the nationally syndicated radio program “FamilyLife Today®,” gives couples a biblical understanding of genuine love in his new book, “Love Like You Mean It: The Heart of a Marriage That Honors God” (B&H Publishing, July 2020).
“Love Like You Mean It” helps husbands and wives discover that it’s not primarily emotions that define marital love but actions and decisions that fuel emotions and cause marital love to grow. Lepine unpacks the idea that without love, we are “nothing” and then explores the remaining attributes of genuine love listed in 1 Corinthians 13, which are the foundation on which healthy marriages should be built: patience, kindness, humility, generosity, easy-goingness, virtue, honesty, tenacity and perseverance.
Each section is filled with relatable anecdotes and colorful examples and includes short discussion questions and brief action items. The discussion starters help couples talk about the text and how it applies to their relationship. The action steps offer husbands and wives practical ways to grow closer to one another and to God.
“This book dives into what a marriage would look like if we took the definition of love provided for us in 1 Corinthians 13—the well known ‘love chapter’ in the Bible—and made it the foundation for our marriages,” says Lepine.
Lepine’s approach to writing “Love Like You Mean It” is atypical of most marriage books that first identify relationship challenges and then provide biblical wisdom to those issues. “Love Like You Mean It” starts with one passage of scripture and then dives deeply into what couples can learn from that passage and apply it to their marriages.
“I think we’ve all fallen into the trap of thinking about love and marriage in emotional and self-focused terms,” says Lepine. “I also see two big misconceptions couples have about marriage. The first is that marriage should be easy. Engaged couples often think, ‘How hard can it be? We’re in love!’ But it takes work for two sinful, self-focused people to live together and love each other well.
“The second misconception is that my biggest problem in marriage is something outside of me—like my circumstances or my spouse. I think the Bible tells us that the biggest problem we have in our marriages is inside of us. It’s the log in our own eye. For most of us, that’s where our focus ought to be.”
For almost three decades, Lepine has worked with FamilyLife, primarily as co-host of “FamilyLife Today®,” FamilyLife’s daily nationally-syndicated radio program, and currently as senior vice president. As a three-time recipient of the National Religious Broadcasters Radio Program of the Year award, “FamilyLife Today®” focuses on helping listeners build stronger, healthier family relationships. Since the ministry’s inception in 1976, 3 million people have attended FamilyLife events, 1.6 million people listen weekly to radio programming and people in more than 100 countries have access to FamilyLife resources.
Prior to joining FamilyLife, Lepine worked in local radio stations around the country. He is the author of “The Christian Husband” and the on-air voice for “Truth for Life” with Alistair Begg. Lepine also serves on the Board of Directors for National Religious Broadcasters.
In addition to his work with FamilyLife, Lepine has been the teaching pastor at Redeemer Community Church in Little Rock since its founding in 2008.
For more information about “Love Like You Mean It,” visit https://lovelikeyoumeanitbook.com/.
Bob Lepine is senior vice president of FamilyLife and co-host of “FamilyLife Today®,” FamilyLife’s nationally-syndicated radio program. A veteran of Christian radio, Lepine has a degree in communications from the University of Tulsa. Prior to joining FamilyLife in 1992, Bob worked for local radio stations in Tulsa, Phoenix, Sacramento, and San Antonio. He is the author of “The Christian Husband” and the on-air voice for “Truth for Life” with Alistair Begg. Lepine also serves on the Board of Directors for National Religious Broadcasters. Lepine lives with his wife, Mary Ann, in Little Rock, Ark. where he also serves as an elder and teaching pastor at Redeemer Community Church.
B&H Publishing Group, an imprint of LifeWay Christian Resources, is a team of mission minded people with a passion for taking God’s Word to the world. Because we believe Every Word Matters® we seek to provide intentional, Bible-centered content that positively impacts the hearts and minds of people, inspiring them to build a lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ. Among our print and digital releases for the trade, church and academic markets, titles include “The New York Times” No. 1 bestsellers “The Love Dare” and “The Vow,” No. 1 CBA bestseller “I Am a Church Member,” as well as the newly-revised Christian Standard Bible (CSB) version.
