Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage: Unlocking the Secrets to Life, Love, and Marriage

by Mark Gungor
Hennepin County Library paperback 275 pages
genre: Non-fiction, Christian, marriage
published: 2008

My pastor has mentioned this book and author many times. I have enjoyed this video from one of his sessions before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XjUFYxSxDk

The book is worth reading, but it wasn't that helpful / interesting / informative to me. Perhaps because I've been married for over thirty years and we get along really well . . . this just didn't inspire me. That said, I tagged some spots. (The only note I jotted was "okay . . . good parts . . . sex / God-given gift . . . Not that funny . . . ")

The section on "Differences Foster Conflict" was one of the best sections in my opinion.


Chapter 11 is titled "What's Sex Got to Do with It?" He writes, "I must mention that there are two groups of people who take issue with my approach to this subject. The first are those representing academia. . . . It's not that I'm trying to be tawdry or crude (though I have frequently been accused of being so), it's that I think God created sex to be fun . . . The other group I seem to offend is the radically prudish religious crowd." He quotes from Ezekiel 23: 19-21 to point out how the Bible talks about this issue. It made me think of the time I read from the Song of Solomon to my mom (for the shock value for her - the Catholic Church had never shared that part of Scripture with her!) Later in the chapter he writes, "Let me say that I do understand that many are reticent to even bring up the subject of sex . . . because of the way sexuality has been abused in our culture." He has a lot of wisdom in this chapter.

In Chapter 16, this line caught my attention: "Virtually anyone can experience a wonderful sex life regardless of their past. But let's stop pretending that sex before marriage is no big deal and start telling people the truth - for two reasons: One, so that our kids can avoid the problem in the first place; and two, so those who have been negatively affected can learn how they can still succeed by changing the way they think about sex."

I don't think I'd spend time and money going to one of his workshops, but I am confident that his material resonates with a lot of other people! He has a positive, Biblical perspective on marriage.