BOOK REVIEW: Have you ever found yourself in a conflict with a friend or family member, unsure of how to restore the relationship? Do you sometimes find yourself unintentionally looking for the worst in people, judging them more critically than they deserve? Have you ever wondered how to help and minister to someone stuck in destructive or sinful behaviour?This book offers a road map for Christians to pursue a culture of peace and restore healthy relationships at home, at church, and at work. Through these personal stories and short, practical chapters written by professional counsellors, you'll find scriptural advice on how to:
- Respond to conflict---great and small---with forgiveness and reconciliation.
- Restore and counsel other Christians who are caught in sin.
- React to criticism with grace and humility.
- Guard your heart against unfair judgments of others.
Whether you're a pastor looking for advice on how to counsel members of your church, or whether you're a church member looking for advice on how to reconcile with a friend, a culture of peace is possible.
MY REVIEW: This book is rather like a "Handbook to Peace". It is only 100 pages long, and smaller than your average book---I'd guess 6'' x 4''. Each of the four chapters are written by a different person. They discuss: Building Real Relationships; Church Discipline; How to Take Criticism; and Charitable Judgment. The chapters are short and to the point, and filled with wisdom to take to heart.
The two chapters that stuck out to me the most are the last two on Criticism and Judging. Criticism is really hard to take, but here we can see how to let it be for good; how to accept and even rejoice in it and not let it take us down. And Judging is something everyone has done. This book shows some of the ways we do it constantly and detrimentally to us and the other person. But especially, how it is wrong and to avoid it.
I received a copy of this book from HENDRICKSON PUBLISHERS and was not required to write a positive review.
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