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hannahcpk's review against another edition
5.0
A fantastic read to understand better the inner workings of the heart. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering, “Why the heck did I just do/think/say that?” or, “Why can’t I change no matter how hard I try?”, this book is for you. Simple in its writing and understanding, but the wisdom beneath goes deep.
The Author talks about 4 emotions that bring about problems in our lives - those things that we find ourselves wondering why we can’t change, or why we do the things we do even though we KNOW it isn’t good. He runs through what those emotions mean, the deeper ‘Why’s’ beneath their occurrences, and the habits we can develop to counter them and heal our hearts.
1. Guilt - says “I owe you” - and is countered through Confession. It’s that thorn stuck in your heart that you can’t pull out, that weight you carry around everywhere. When you owe someone, it’s often not some physical debt. It’s because what you’ve taken from someone cannot be replaced, and you know it. It may be reputation, purity, a childhood, security. It’s something that holds consequences for the other person, and you feel guilt and shame because you were the cause of that. Confession shines the light on the shame that was hidden to bring freedom.
2. Anger - says “You owe me” - and is countered through Forgiveness. It’s when you’re on the other end of a debt that was never paid. and again, it’s often a debt that’s hard pressed to be paid off physically. You feel like you’ve been robbed of something you deserved - opportunity, a promotion, reputation, your childhood, your youth, your time. You want payback, but often... you don’t even know what can be paid back, or how it can be paid back. Forgiveness puts a name to what was owed and brings a decision to release the debt, so that the captor of anger can release you too.
3. Greed - says “I owe me” - and is countered by Giving Generously. The seed of greed is often hidden through good intentions. It’s easy to say that you’re not greedy, you’re just frugal, or something of the sort. But beneath it is a fear and insecurity that God will not provide for you. When we flip our perspective and realise that what we own on this Earth is basically nothing - all good things come from Him - then what we are in this life is not Owners but Managers. Managers of the good things that he has given to us, and He gives some more, and some less. Our responsibility here on Earth is to Manage what He has put in our account, and we should be asking ourselves, “WHY has God given me extra?”
4. Jealousy - says “God owes me” - and is countered by Celebration. Can we stand before God and tell him that He owes us - more than just His bloodied body on the cross? The breakthrough is when we know that we owe Him, and it’s not the other way around. Celebrate the success of others until we feel cheerful. Don’t wait until we feel cheerful to celebrate. When we can show our actions, everything else follows.
This was a great book and helped me to understand more about the heart that controls all things. My biggest reflection is that we are MANAGERS not OWNERS in this Life.
The Author talks about 4 emotions that bring about problems in our lives - those things that we find ourselves wondering why we can’t change, or why we do the things we do even though we KNOW it isn’t good. He runs through what those emotions mean, the deeper ‘Why’s’ beneath their occurrences, and the habits we can develop to counter them and heal our hearts.
1. Guilt - says “I owe you” - and is countered through Confession. It’s that thorn stuck in your heart that you can’t pull out, that weight you carry around everywhere. When you owe someone, it’s often not some physical debt. It’s because what you’ve taken from someone cannot be replaced, and you know it. It may be reputation, purity, a childhood, security. It’s something that holds consequences for the other person, and you feel guilt and shame because you were the cause of that. Confession shines the light on the shame that was hidden to bring freedom.
2. Anger - says “You owe me” - and is countered through Forgiveness. It’s when you’re on the other end of a debt that was never paid. and again, it’s often a debt that’s hard pressed to be paid off physically. You feel like you’ve been robbed of something you deserved - opportunity, a promotion, reputation, your childhood, your youth, your time. You want payback, but often... you don’t even know what can be paid back, or how it can be paid back. Forgiveness puts a name to what was owed and brings a decision to release the debt, so that the captor of anger can release you too.
3. Greed - says “I owe me” - and is countered by Giving Generously. The seed of greed is often hidden through good intentions. It’s easy to say that you’re not greedy, you’re just frugal, or something of the sort. But beneath it is a fear and insecurity that God will not provide for you. When we flip our perspective and realise that what we own on this Earth is basically nothing - all good things come from Him - then what we are in this life is not Owners but Managers. Managers of the good things that he has given to us, and He gives some more, and some less. Our responsibility here on Earth is to Manage what He has put in our account, and we should be asking ourselves, “WHY has God given me extra?”
4. Jealousy - says “God owes me” - and is countered by Celebration. Can we stand before God and tell him that He owes us - more than just His bloodied body on the cross? The breakthrough is when we know that we owe Him, and it’s not the other way around. Celebrate the success of others until we feel cheerful. Don’t wait until we feel cheerful to celebrate. When we can show our actions, everything else follows.
This was a great book and helped me to understand more about the heart that controls all things. My biggest reflection is that we are MANAGERS not OWNERS in this Life.
sleeson's review against another edition
5.0
A MUST READ! He really got to the meat of it. I’m glad I came across this book. I’ve learned so much about my heart “issues”. I definitely see myself re-reading this one in the future.
goandbetori's review against another edition
5.0
SO GOOD! Anger is something I've struggled with for a long time, but very internally and unsure of how to process it. Rather than telling us to ignore it, I love how Mr.Stanley draws it out of us and has us confront in a very healthy and biblical way, as well as a few other emotions we keep locked up inside of us.
All those proverbs about the foolish succumbing to jealousy, anger, etc. make a lot more sense in light of the cross, and now I feel as though I understand it much better. Highly recommend!
All those proverbs about the foolish succumbing to jealousy, anger, etc. make a lot more sense in light of the cross, and now I feel as though I understand it much better. Highly recommend!
greyetal's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this for all the reasons I like Andy Stanley’s sermons - real life examples, practical & logical, and full of easy to remember helpful tidbits. I do prefer to listen to a sermon or sermon series to hear his voice, but am nonetheless looking forward to reading another book of his in my TBR pile.
revslick's review against another edition
4.0
Andy Stanley provides simple spiritual actions to counteract the emotions of Anger, Greed, Jealousy, and Guilt. My only quibble is Andy writes for a somewhat protected community (too cushy) and at times found myself thinking 'seriously Andy you need to get out more.' Regardless of my personal quibble, the book is easily accessible for anybody to pick up and readily learn how to confront these head on. Good, simple, down home, spiritual wisdom.