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Boundaries in Marriage  By  cover art

Boundaries in Marriage

By: Dr. John Townsend,Dr. Henry Cloud
Narrated by: Dick Fredricks
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Publisher's summary

Learn when to say yes and when to say no to your spouse to make the most of your marriage.

Only when you and your mate know and respect each other's needs, choices, and freedom can you give yourselves freely and lovingly to one another.

Boundaries are the "property lines" that define and protect husbands and wives as individuals. Once they are in place, a good marriage can become better, and a less-than-satisfying one can even be saved.

Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend, counselors and authors of the award-winning bestseller Boundaries, show couples how to apply the 10 laws of boundaries that can make a real difference in relationships. They help husbands and wives understand the friction points or serious hurts and betrayals in their marriage - and move beyond them to the mutual care, respect, affirmation, and intimacy they both long for.

Boundaries in Marriage will help you:

  • Set and maintain personal boundaries and respect those of their spouse
  • Establish values that form a godly structure and architecture for their marriage
  • Protect their marriage from different kinds of "intruders"
  • Work with a spouse who understands and values boundaries - or work with one who doesn't

You don't have to let your marriage head toward separation or divorce. Discover how boundaries make life better today!

Plus, check out Boundaries family collection of books dedicated to key areas of life - dating, raising kids, parenting teens, and leadership. Workbooks and Spanish editions are also available.

©2000 by Henry Could and John Townsend (P)2000 by the Zondervan Corporation

What listeners say about Boundaries in Marriage

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Boundaries *ARE* scriptural - ignore noisemakers

I cannot believe the people who claim that this book and the concepts it teaches are somehow an abomination and contrary to scripture. I am simply going to quote from this book as the authors are very clear in addressing such attacks.

"There's a lot of misunderstanding about boundaries. Some people are against boundaries because they see them as selfish. Other people actually use them to be selfish. Both are wrong. Boundaries are basically about self-control.Boundaries are not something you set on another person. Boundaries are something you set on yourself."

Self control *IS* very scriptural. In fact it is one of the fruits of the spirit that are explicitly referenced in Galatians 5:22-23. and as Apostle Paul says "against such things there is no law." The only people who object to the boundaries being used in marriage as Cloud and Townsend teach them are likely manipulative controlling spouses who want to continue to play their power games and don't like anything that deters their ability t manipulate and control their spouses.

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44 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Powerful Tool

I purchased this book to learn and grow and that I did! I learned areas that I was contributing to making my marriage weak, and learned where I can improve, grow and change immediately. I have personally grown with every Cloud/Townsend book. I also enjoyed the narrator, he told the story well, but I do prefer Cloud/Townsend themselves to read, I still enjoyed this one very much! Get it and make a difference in your own marriage, if not to save it, STRENGTHEN it! God Bless You on your journey!

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39 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Very helpful

This book is a great resource for married couples. There was so much to digest I had to listen twice. The authors do a great job presenting the material, if your looking to improve your marriage this book will help.

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36 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent!

I only wish I had this book years ago. It would have saved a lot of heartache.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good info; horrible voice inflections

If nothing more, this books serves as a great reminder to take self-accountability for your role in a relationship. I picked up a few new ideas. I appreciated the nexus to Christian spirituality.

Personally, I find it repulsive when the reader changes the inflection in his/her voice when quoting a character. It drives me nuts. Just read the book. Stop trying to entertain me with unnecessary drama.

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19 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great material, Valuable insight, weird narrator

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would highly recommend the book but not the audiobook. The book offers a lot of wisdom and gives case examples to illustrate points. The strangeness of the narration is too distracting and detracts from the book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

non-fiction- no characters

What didn’t you like about Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend ’s performance?

Contrary to what is listed the narrator is not either of the authors- it's someone else- I believe the same person who narrates the other boundaries books. This is a self-help book not a dramatic novel. There's no need for the narrator to try and "make things more interesting" by reading so dramatically and making each person in each case example sound like they are ready to jump off a bridge. No one talks that way. It makes it hard to take it seriously. He also gives everyone this weird accent- it's almost like a long island accent but not quite. It's distracting and I would suggest reading this as opposed to listening to it.

What did you learn from Boundaries in Marriage that you would use in your daily life?

That a good marriage and good boundaries start with having good character and good boundaries with yourself.

Any additional comments?

Wonderful book. Weird narrator.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great

This book helped transform my marriage. My wife and I are happy for the first time in years.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing Insight for Troubled Marriages

We were having trouble because both my husband and I have issues from our childhood that we had not resolved. This book helped us to reach a new level in our marriage.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Missing the HOW

The book goes through all the different types of boundaries and what how different people approach them. It explains why they are important with many biblical references. It also provides a few examples but it seems to be the same few examples over and over. Parts of it also seemed very contradictory. One page would talk about how a wife should set a boundary with husband if he spends time with friends or playing golf. A few pages later would discuss how each husband needs to be able to be free to have friends outside of marriage and how to set a boundary when his wife tries to control his freedom.

Buy this book if:
-you and your spouse are newlyweds and looking to grow together
-last resort for both spouses to read before considering terminating marriage
-you need a book for a couples bible study or Sunday school class
-you want to learn about all different types of boundaries before starting a relationship
-you have a spouse that overspends or overuses a credit card, then this may be a good book, but that seems to be the only example that was used over and over.

Would not recommend buying this book if:
-you have a firm grasp on your need to learn HOW to set boundaries
-you are looking for examples of boundaries to set (other than one listed above)
-want to learn how to connect boundaries to the boundary crossing behavior

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So helpful.

Highly recommended for anyone; single, married whether you're have troubles or want to avoid them, or divorced. Lots of great information. Listening for the second time to absorb it all.

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5 people found this helpful