Become a Better You Journal: A Guide to Improving Your Life Every Day [Hardcover]

Joel Osteen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 22, 2008

No matter where you are in your life, you can be better!

In Joel Osteen's bestselling book Become a Better You, he outlined seven principles that we should all live by in order to have a life that is more fulfilling, more meaningful, and filled with hope and purpose.

In this seven-week companion, you will learn how to apply each of those principles to your everyday life and become the person that God uniquely created you to be. The lessons in this book will equip you to be a better spouse, a better parent, a better leader, and an inspiration to everyone you know! The principles are simple, but applying them to your daily life will have a profound effect on every situation you face:

One: Keep pressing forward

Two: Be positive toward yourself

Three: Develop better relationships

Four: Form better habits

Five: Embrace the place where you are

Six: Develop your inner life

Seven: Stay passionate about life

Learn how to tap into your full God-given potential. Filled with inspirational thoughts, exploratory exercises, and daily scripture, this journal will show you how to take hold of the future you have always wanted and the future that God had always intended.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joel Osteen is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Listed by several sources as America's largest and fastest-growing congregation, Lakewood Church has approximately 45,000 adult attendees every week. Millions more watch Joel's messages as they are broadcast on national and international television networks. Joel is the author of numerous journals, devotionals, and books, including the Hope for Today Bible and the bestseller, It's Your Time. His book Become a Better You has sold over two million copies to date, remaining on the New York Times bestseller list for five months. Visit Joel's website at www.joelosteen.com

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (April 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416573062
• ISBN-13: 978-1416573067
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joel Osteen is a native Texan and the Pastor of Lakewood Church, which according to Church Growth Today is America's largest and fastest growing church with over 38,000 attendees. On July 16, 2005 after completing $95 million dollars in renovations, Joel moved Lakewood Church into its new 16,000 seat home -- the former Compaq Center which is now the largest regularly-used worship center in the United States. According to Nielsen Media Research, Joel is the most watched inspirational figure in America. His weekly sermon is broadcast into television markets across the U.S. where it is viewed by seven million Americans each week and more than 20 million each month. His weekly broadcast is also seen in almost 100 nations around the world. In 2004 his first book, Your Best Life Now was released by Time Warner debuting at the top of the New York Times Bestsellers List and quickly rising to #1. It remained on the New York Times Bestseller for more than 2 years and has sold more than 4 million copies. Most recently, Joel was named as one of Barbara Walters' "10 Most Fascinating People of 2006" and he was selected as the "Most Influential Christian in 2006" by the readers of Church Report Magazine. The son of John Osteen -- a highly respected minister of the Gospel and the founder of Lakewood Church -- Joel attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he studied radio and television communications. In 1982, Joel returned to Houston and founded Lakewood's television ministry where he produced John Osteen's televised sermons for 17 years until January 1999 when his father passed away. For many years John Osteen encouraged Joel to preach, but he always declined preferring to work behind the scenes. In early 1999, Joel felt compelled to accept his father's invitation and he preached his first sermon on January 17th of that year. Little did anyone know that would be the last Sunday of John Osteen's life. Two weeks later Joel began preaching and later that year was installed as the new Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church. Almost immediately, weekly attendance began to grow at an extraordinary rate and, in 2005 Joel moved Lakewood Church into its present location, the former Compaq Center, a 16,000 seat arena that was once home to the Houston Rockets professional basketball team. Now, with his wife Victoria and the leadership staff of Lakewood, this innovative church is poised for the new millennium. Joel's extraordinary success can be found in his core message: That our God is a good God who desires to bless those who are obedient and faithful to Him through Jesus Christ. It is Joel's deepest desire that his own life be an example of that principle and that everyone who hears this message of hope and encouragement would choose to accept God's goodness and mercy and to become all that God wants them to be.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peace Of Mine, May 7, 2008

By 

W. Truelove "Live For Today" (Baltimore, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Become a Better You Journal: A Guide to Improving Your Life Every Day (Hardcover)

Just like an author writing a novel or a painter trying to decide what colors to use, we as human beings need to sort things out as well and organize them. After getting Become A Better You, a friend of mine suggested the journal. I got it and boy did it help. After taking seven weeks to read the book (that is how it is laid out) and doing the journal, I was amazed at the results.

There before me was a complete restructuring of my life from where it was and where I wanted it to go. I was pleased with the result. I like how Joel simplifies the bible and puts the scriptures in plain text. I highly recommend this to anyone getting Become A Better You.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deepen Your Sanctification, October 10, 2008

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Become a Better You Journal: A Guide to Improving Your Life Every Day (Hardcover)

I usually like journals better than the books they are based on. Why? In working on the journal assignments over several weeks, I deepen my understanding of the material and carry it around with me in a more conscious way.

Of all the spiritual journals I have read and used, I like the Become a Better You Journal better than any other. In fact, I like it so much that I'm going through it again a second time on a daily basis. I also re-read entries I put into it each morning. I can feel my faith becoming deeper and more soundly grounded. It's a wonderful feeling.

The questions in the journal are well designed to focus you on your doubts, concerns, areas where faith is weak, and what God has done for you. The assignments then take these sensitive areas and build you up . . . and bring you closer to Lord Jesus and to God, the Father.

It will take you 49 days to go through the questions and exercises. Those will be 49 well-invested days.

What are you waiting for?

I do recommend that you read Become a Better You first. Here is my review of that excellent book:

Five Stars

One of the great pleasures of this book for me was to re-read many of my favorite sermons by Pastor Joel Osteen. No matter how many times I've listened to a sermon that's included here, the Holy Spirit helped me to draw new meaning from reading it in Become a Better You.

Another great benefit was to see the structure that Pastor Osteen used to organize these sermons relative to one another. Just by seeing that structure and thinking about it after finishing the book, I better understood the process of sanctification (the way that Christian believers go about becoming more like Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit).

People who don't know Jesus as their Lord and Savior often think that Christianity is simply about accepting or rejecting Jesus. That's the first step, the step of salvation from our sins. But our relationship with Jesus builds from there through sanctification.

Those who aren't Christians often don't know what large impacts becoming saved and sanctified have. This book is eloquent testimony of how much Christianity does for you here on Earth, long before you die.

Through the many stories (many of them based on his own experiences and those of his family) in the sermons, Pastor Osteen does a marvelous job of showing that transforming experience and potential for even more improvements.

The 31 sermons are organized around seven steps which I have paraphrased as follows:

1. Seek continual improvement and larger challenges.
2. Use your faith to have a positive view of yourself.
3. Improve your relationships with others.
4. Eliminate bad habits and form better ones.
5. Accept your situation.
6. Listen more carefully to and act on God's directions.
7. Embrace life with Godly passion.

Each step concludes with a few action points that allow you to refocus and redirect your life. These are good habits.

The book concludes with a call to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Some would argue that this book is only for Christians. But if you are not a Christian and wonder what the Christian life is like, I think you'll find this book to be interesting and valuable as well.

I was struck that some people think this is a self-help book that should be filled with novel ideas. Pastor Joel Osteen is drawing on the timeless words of the Bible. I'm glad he didn't vary from what God has directed for us.

May God bless you!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a better you by being a better you., September 24, 2008

By 

Anna Tielsch "APRNdisney" (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Become a Better You Journal: A Guide to Improving Your Life Every Day (Hardcover)

I originally purchased Joel's book and read it cover to cover. I enjoyed his messages, motivations, and lessons on living life as a Christian that I purchased the accompanying journal.

This hardback book- with thicker pages so that you can write, take notes, and jot down prayers- is an excellent study guide accompanyment to Joel's first book - However, the journal does not require that you have previously read any of Joel's books or lectures. It can also be used alone.

The book is meant to read one passage and reflection a day (approx 2-3 pages each day) and has ample space to write down your thoughts on the reading as well as a prayer section on each day. For example, one journal entry is to explore what you feel your negative attributes are- and then you are to focus on "all things are possible with God" and consider a passage in relation to what your felt were your own personal thoughts.

I found this workbook both enticing and reflective. Overall, I would strongly recommend to anyone who enjoys Joel Osteen and would be an excellent gift for friends or family.