I’ve recently been reading the devotional Change My Relationship by Karla Downing. This devotional was designed to give practical ideas for basing healthy relationships on biblical truths.
ISBN: 9781735245904
We were given this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own. I was not required to give a positive review – only an honest one.
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This book has 365 devotionals and can be used in one of two ways. You can read the daily devotional that corresponds to the date or use the index in the back to find the topics that are most relevant to your current situation and start there.
Each devotion is a page long. They have a single verse printed in the book, followed by a 2 to 4 paragraph devotion and ending with a prayer prompt. Most scriptures are taken from the NIV translation but the NLT, NASB, and NKJV are also used.
The devotionals are written in an easy-to-read conversational style. They will only take a few minutes each to read but you’ll want a little more time to really think through and pray about some of the insights offered. Since the only person we can really change is ourselves most of these devotions will have you examining yourself and your relationship with God and His Word. There are also a lot dealing with how we react to others and how we can set boundaries and change our interactions with others to help them change if they want to.
I love the 10 key principles all of these devotionals are based on. Knowing Scriptural Truths is an important principle that applies to all aspects of our life not just our relationships. We need to know what the Bible actually says not what people want it to say or think it says. One example Karla points out is that the Bible does command us to forgive everyone but it does not command us to act like nothing happened or stay in the same situation and allow people to continue to hurt us.
Other principles include things like forgiving ourselves and others, setting boundaries, speaking the truth in love, and taking care of ourselves. All of these principles are explained in small chunks that seem just the right amount for a daily devotional.
Karla runs a website, also called Change My Relationship. You can go there for more about her training and personal experiences. A detailed description of the 10 Key Principles she uses is there as well as information about the many books she has written and courses she offers.
The topical index is well organized and makes finding specific devotionals very easy.
If I could change one thing, I would like references to a couple more verses or a longer passage for optional additional reading included. While all the verses I read are good choices for the devotional included, I think additional verses would help ground readers more fully in the Word of God.
Overall this is a nice devotional that will be of particular interest to those who are struggling with dysfunctional relationships or those wanting to learn how to develop relationships using biblical guidelines.