Customer Reviews

Encouragement: The Key to Caring

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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"A few well-timed words suited perfectly to the need of a particular moment can yield enduring results in someone's life. When layered Christians meet together, their purpose is to protect themselves from each other or to use each other to enhance their own self-esteem. The basis of our fellowship is our shared life in Christ by promoting fuller appreciation of Christ through mirroring Christ to one another, treating each other as valuable bearers of the image of God, and accepting one another in spite of shortcomings. We are to understand the fears, defenses and needs of others and to become committed, not to sharing ourselves, but to sharing the Lord by ministering to those needs. We handle negative emotions three ways: repression, unrestrained expression or acknowledgement and proper expression to God. Change takes place when truth is presented in relationship. The essence of encouragement is exposure without rejection by conveying confidence to change. Encouragement is the fruit of a self-examined heart and a compassionate, discerning sensitivity to the needs of others. The work of restoration is to help self-centered, unbelieving, fearful people to become Christ-centered, trusting and bold."

I read this book as an assignment for a Bible Counseling course and found it extremely helpful. One new idea I learned was "My desire is to be encouraged, but my goal will be to minister to others." I've been struggling with my own need for encouragement and Chapter 5 helped clarify it for me: I need to learn to trust God for my own encouragement and focus my attention on ministering to others - only then will I know true joy.

A great book! Dr. Crabb shows us how to move beyond "surface community" and into true encouragement...first by confronting our own desires to be encouraged ourselves. He'll lead you to some surprising conclusions.

Some books age well. Normally that's because they present timeless truth in timeless ways. They avoid dating themselves by wedding themselves to the latest fad or passing fancy. Encouragement is just such a book. It describes the power of timely spiritual conversations motivated by grace and spoken heart-to-heart.

This work is the most practical and immediately applicable of the many works by Crabb and Allender. Extremely useful for equipping lay counselors and caregivers.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Spiritual Friends: A Methodology of Soul Care And Spiritual Direction, Soul Physicians: A Theology of Soul Care And Spiritual Direction, and Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction .

This is a wonderful book that has changed my understanding on how to respond to others' need for encouragement. Frankly speaking, I've been misled for years by what people said about stuff like applying empathy towards others, often finding myself at dead end which did not lead to what the Bible says we should head for. The book points the way from the shallow need for nurturing the other person's layer to entering the core, from attention on what to say to having the right attitude as we seize the opportunity for encouragement. Sadly enough, although the above is not a new concept and can be realized and accepted through common sense, we have been confused by theories of secular counselling which has pointed us to unbiblical ways of caring for others.

Though I think the book could have been even more helpful by saying more how we can continue to encourage after opening the door, I decide not to drop a star since I think it is a must read for all Christians who seriously desire to do their part in this much needed ministry of encouragement, especially because I seldom come across books which provide such valuable advice on this topic which is compatible with what the Bible says.

This is an excellent book by very inspired authors. Encouragement is in fact a two way street. If you read a book about encouragement you are probably expecting to learn how to be more positive personally. However, we also need to know about our responsibility to be more encouraging toward others. This book will teach the reader that we are responsible for every word and every action toward others. Our responses to other people can be encouraging or discouraging. I don't think I had taken my actions toward others serious enough until I read this book. This book should be read by all high school students because it really guides the reader into a better understanding of both self-image and social responsibility. The book is a quick read and holds your attention very well.

For a book titled Encouragement, I've actually found myself kind of discouraged. Now, I ought to clarify that. It's probably, at least partly, a good discouragement. I'll elaborate.

Dr. Crabb's book is basically a beginner level counseling book. He speaks, almost medically, about people's tendencies, thoughts, feelings, fears, etc. This alone, I don't think would be terribly useful. However, Dr. Crabb builds relatively well on top of biblical foundation (albeit stretching things sometimes) which allows him to speak with more authority.

While I didn't agree with everything Dr. Crabb had to say, I completely agree with the overall theme of the book, which is simply this: Rely only on God for everything, and on all occasions hold others above yourself. A pretty simple and elementary message, as some would say, but Dr. Crabb tenderly builds a subtext that clearly reveals the rarity with which we actually practice that message.

Encouragement spends the first twelve chapters dealing with the heart and motive of the encourager and only in the last two chapters does Dr. Crabb move onto encouraging others. He argues (well) that encouragement requires that the encourager's heart be right in his words and actions. He delves deeply into people's thoughts and motives behind why they speak and what they choose to speak and how they choose to speak it. The discussion is done with a level of care and intimacy that will almost certainly hit home with the reader.

There were some things that I disagreed with, although they may really just be contextual grievances. I think that Dr. Crabb failed to take into account the varying degrees of relationships. There are clearly times to go to close friends or wives about troubles and pains in life; that wouldn't necessarily be wrong, and in many cases could likely be encouraging to the other person. However, Dr. Crabb paints a picture of encouragement that makes it sound like encouragers are not ever to voluntarily open up themselves and their grief to another person--barring the circumstance that the other person comes looking for it. It was this that caused me to find myself walking the line of discouragement. However, that point seems to be made, inadvertently, between the lines and I doubt Dr. Crabb would actually say that outright.

Ultimately, this book caused a great deal of introspection in me. It forced a serious evaluation of my thoughts and motives and actions. With time and prayer, I hope that the concepts in this book will bear fruit in my relationships with God and people.

I wouldn't recommend this book to the casual reader. I could easily see it becoming confusing or even an undue pressure and discouragement if misunderstood. However, anyone able and willing to approach the book, at least kind of academically, will probably find a lot to learn here.

This book has been sitting on my shelf for about four years. What a waste. I should have read it much sooner. This is a great little book and an excellent resource for every Christian. We are all called to encourage one another (Heb 10), but often we don't know how. Sometimes we are too caught up in our struggles to recognize the needs of others. Sometimes we are satisfied to never let our conversations pass beyond shallow words. If you want to minister to others in a meaningful way, then learn to encourage. If you don't know how to be an encourager, then read this book.

Yup, this is one of the best books I have ever seen on the (often ignored) subject of encouragement. On the down side, the book is written toward the Christain viewpoint (I'm a member of the Church or Religious Science), so reading this book took several extra hours as I "translated" it into secular language. But, it was well worth the effort! I am going to order some of Larry's other books.

I'm reading this book as part of a group discussion for the Board of Church Life at my church. For our purposes, it serves as a valid jumping off point to many of our discussions. Overall, a useful set of guidelines.

Great Christian book that uncovers common misconceptions about caring communication. Teaches what the real core of encouragement is. Once I started reading it was hard to stop.