Enemies of the Heart

Divorce. Job loss. Estrangement from family members. Broken friendships.

The difficult circumstances you are dealing with today are likely being fed by one of four emotional forces that compels you to act in undesirable ways, sometimes even against your will.

Andy Stanley explores each of these destructive forces - guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy - and how they infiltrate your life and damage your relationships. He says that, left unchallenged, they have the power to destroy your home, your career, and your friendships.

In Enemies of the Heart, Andy offers practical, biblical direction to help you fight back, to take charge of those feelings that mysteriously control you, and to restore your broken relationships. Also included with this book is a six-week discussion guide to help in a small group study.

My Review:

In light of the circumstances surrounding us today from job loss, divorce, and maintaining our relationships with family and friends, it's hard sometimes not to let greed, anger, guilt or jealousy ruled our thoughts and our hearts. While at times we often think we are the ones that deserve a break and it seems like the ones that deserve a little consequence for some poor actions are the ones that are constantly moving ahead. We on the other hand seem to be fighting that upward battle and never seem to gain any ground.

We work hard at the jobs we do, show up early, stay late, take on extra projects, while a co-worker will never be reliable, is gone more days than they are at work, leave early, take more breaks than most and then when a promotion is up for grabs, its offered to them and not us. Sound like a jealous head begins to rear up? So how do we as Christians respond to that situation? Andy Stanley gives some great advice on working on what we feel on the inside, so that we don't respond in a negative way on the outside.

We as Christians, need to start spending some time evaluating our heart, our spiritual heart on a regular basis. We neglect it far too much and then wonder where our negative thoughts manifest from.

We get jealous when we try on several pairs of jeans, meanwhile our friend puts on the same pairs and they look amazing on her. Do we compliment her or do we simmer on the inside wondering why we can find a pair of jeans to look great on us?

Do you ever find yourself asking the following questions after we have done or said something we shouldn't have:

"I can't believe I just said that."
"I don't know where that came from."
"I can't believe I just did that."
"That's not like me."

Then perhaps you should pick up a copy of Andy Stanley's book, Enemies of the Heart. I highly recommend it for anyone who is struggling with simply how to be a better person and how not to let these emotions overrun our lives, thoughts and actions. I received this book, compliments of WaterBrook Multnomah for my honest review and will be referencing this one from time to time. I give it a 5 out of 5 stars! The writing style is easy to follow and lets the reader feel like a close personal friend, and that is what really works in my opinion.

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this much needed book, please click on the links below:

Enemies of the Heart by Andy Stanley