Dr. Samuel Renihan has provided us with a volume that will prove helpful for years to come. Gently guiding readers through the pages of Scripture, he helps us understand God’s wisdom in joining one man and one woman in a covenant relationship. With crisp, clear, and engaging language, he tackles the challenges every married couple faces in a world often hostile to their union. My wife and I have been married for over forty years, and during that time, we have read many books on this important topic. We have also counseled numerous couples whose marriages were struggling. Dr. Renihan offers valuable insight for marriages, whether new or old, joyful or troubled, bring-ing much-needed light in these dark times. To be sure, we will be gifting this volume for many years to come.

Emerging from a sermon series, Sam’s work on marriage and household living is carefully rooted in God’s word, tracking the text of 1 Peter 3:1-7, and thereby binding the conscience of every reader to the infallible revelation of Scripture. In addition, he quotes extensively from “older” writers, largely sev-enteenth-century, which ensures that his exegesis is historically “controlled”, safeguarded against innovation and grounded in the wisdom of the ages. This then gives him the confidence to make bold, challenging and contemporary applications that are both convicting and enabling. Every husband and wife will find clear guidance and direction that will enable them to grow in godly wisdom and grace for household living. There are so many “golden nuggets” of pastoral and practical wisdom: the character and danger of busy slothfulness; how “cosmos” trains a godly wife in biblical cosmetics; how mistakes must not be conflated with sins, because they require different remedies; and the fact that every spouse makes a “precommitment” to forgive when they marry. Biblically faithful, historically grounded and pastorally practical help for husbands and wives to honour God’s order in their households. Tolle lege!

All marriages can grow toward their full potential. An extended pastoral meditation upon 1 Peter 3:1-7, this book is simultaneously a first aid kit for marriages in trouble and a fine-tuning kit for exemplary marriages. Far more than an exposition of the biblical passage, Dr. Samuel Renihan brings wisdom be-yond his years to the task of teaching marriage basics alongside complex questions of serving the Lord well as a husband or wife. This husband of over forty years found it helpful. You are holding a choice book that will likely become a standard text among many earnest Christians.