Customer Reviews

Answers to Life's Difficult Questions

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After reading The Purpose Driven Life, I decided to buy every book Rick Warren has written and I haven't been disappointed. This one is filled with practical advice. It's a quick read, but jammed packed with insights. Highly recommended.

If you are smart, you'll read everything Rick Warren writes. I discovered this little gem after reading The Purpose Driven Life, Planned for God's Pleasure, The Purpose Driven Church, The Power to Change your Life, The Purpose Driven Life Journal, and all his other books. I'm never disappointed.

Although I am not a christian and don't believe some of the fundamental tenets of the religion I have to applaud Rick Warren for his works on this book. He assures the reader that there is always a solution to even the most challenging problem in life and God is always there to help. I am going to try to be more open minded after reading this book, although I still stand by my harsh negative reviews on the more legalistic christian books such as Mary Baxter's "A Divine Revelvation of Hell" and Bill Weise's "23 Minutes in Hell".

Rick Warren is a whole lot different in his writing than those other two grossly fundamentalist writers I just mentioned. In closing I would recommend this book to anyone who is struggling through life difficulties.

Before developing the purpose driven life series, Rick Warren contemplated answers to difficult questions from the Bible. He considered relationships, change in circumstances, envy, jealousy, happiness and how to appreciate material things without letting them consume you. He says, "we'll always feel threatened by people who are more beautiful, with a higher status and better education, values and happiness."

He guides the reader in understanding that we don't need to imitate somebody else's lifestyle. It is not a compliment to want to be like someone else. We are all unique and must channnel our energies into accomplishing worthwhile things of our own. We don't need to be jealous of others or envy them for their talents or possessions. Take someone else's opinion about you in stride. Remember, you're multidimensional -- what they're commenting on is a single facet of your rich and fascinating personality.

With the help of the one on high, we learn to bring good out of every circumstance, mistake and tragedy. Material things don't last, but relationships do. At least, some relationships do. We need to change our perspective and have good values by learning how to eliminate envy of others. It serves only to drain the joy from your life and, in consequence, both in the relationship suffer. You cannot be happy and envious at the same time. It does not serve any purpose to compare what someone else has to your own circumstances.

We make our own happiness by being individualistic and be able to praise others for their good fortune. When jealousy enters into any relationship, love goes down the drain along with joy. One jealous person can cause a lot of trauma and misery for others he targets for his vitriol. Each person can change his perspective and eliminate envy and jealousy from his life. Happiness comes from within. If you've admired someone for six years, and suddenly he changes drastically, the best you can do is bear with him through whatever torment his present circumstances have caused. You don't just turn off all the good feelings overnight. There is too much riding on the outcome. Happiness in life is learning to rid yourself of any type of envy. I used to think that people who live in big houses were prosperous but, when I also found myself in one, I learned that it brings its problems which I did not wish to bear.

Envying those who have more money, cars, good places to live only make you miserable. Money does not buy happiness, and never will. It only makes the prosperous one more comfortable for the moment, but it could change in a flash. Hang on to those relationships because when an important one ends, you find that you lost what you needed and loved the most. Is it worth it? On this 666 day, be thankful that we have the power to overcome evil of any kind. Rick learned early the necessary values and traits for a really good life and went on to teach others how to be happy even without wealth.

If you do your best in any endeavor, you can be sure of receiving personal satisfaction of the job well done and will have no need to compare your status in life with someone else. Live and let live, I always say. But don't give up love.