Enemies of the Heart: Breaking Free from the Four Emotions That Control You [Paperback]

Andy Stanley (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 21, 2011

Break free from the destructive power of guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy.
 
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.
 
Includes a six-week discussion guide—a valuable resource for small groups!

Previously released as It Came from Within

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Enemies of the Heart

“Andy Stanley touches the right nerve at the right time. We all have an understandable tendency to focus on the problems others need to address in their lives. But Andy encourages us to put ourselves on the hook and not let go until we’ve made any necessary changes. This book shined a spotlight on some of those areas I need to work on, and
I know it will do the same for you.”
—Shaunti Feldhahn, best-selling author of For Women Only

“Andy Stanley is a master teacher for a generation that loves to be taught. Here is yet more proof of Andy’s ability to take us deep in a way that makes us want to go there. This is a great book.”
—Dave Ramsey, New York Times best-selling author and nationally syndicated radio host

“Read this book with caution! You will probably uncover some mean and ugly stuff in the depths of your own heart. I sure did. The good news is that Andy Stanley doesn’t leave you there to struggle; instead, he offers wise, biblical remedies that every Christian should make part of their own spiritual habits. This is great stuff that I enjoyed teaching
at our church.”
—Doug Fields, former associate pastor, Saddleback Church

About the Author

Andy Stanley is a pastor, communicator, author, and the founder of North Point Ministries, Inc. (NPM). Since its inception in 1995, North Point Ministries has grown from one campus to five in the Atlanta area and has helped plant more than thirty strategic partner churches globally. Each Sunday, more than twenty-five thousand people attend worship services at one of North Point Ministries’ five campuses. Andy’s books include Communicating for a Change,  The Next Generation Leader, Visioneering, and How Good is Good Enough? Andy lives in Alpharetta, Georgia, with his wife, Sandra, and their children.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Books; Reprint edition (June 21, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1601421451
• ISBN-13: 978-1601421456
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (281 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andy Stanley is a pastor, communicator, author, and the founder of North Point Ministries (NPM). Since its inception in 1995, North Point Ministries has grown from one church to five in the Atlanta area and has developed a global network of more than 30 churches. Each Sunday, more than 33,000 people attend worship services at NPM's five Atlanta-area churches: Browns Bridge Community Church, Buckhead Church, Gwinnett Church, North Point Community Church, and Watermarke Church.

Andy's books include the recently released Deep & Wide, as well as Enemies of the Heart, The Grace of God, The Next Generation Leader, and How Good Is Good Enough? Andy and his wife, Sandra, live in Alpharetta, Georgia, and have three children.

For more information about Andy Stanley and North Point Ministries, visit www.northpointministries.org.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#82 in Books > Religion & Spirituality

#82 in Books > Religion & Spirituality

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Stanley - Biblical, Practical, Life Transforming! June 21, 2011

By David P. Craig TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I think Andy Stanley has hit it out of the park with this book. He is so good at bringing God's truth from the Scriptures to bear on the big issues of the day. I think that along with Pete Scazzero's books Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and the Emotionally Healthy Church - that this book is must reading for pastors, leaders, and anyone who is a part of the body of Christ. Most Bible teachers, often neglect the soulish matters of the heart, - but Stanley calls a spade a spade and writes a convicting, challenging, and much needed corrective for us to address our blind spots.

In Part 1 he addresses the fact that sin comes from the heart as Jeremiah says and is incredibly deceptive. He talks about the damage that sin does, and how to identify it, and the importance of correcting it.

In Part 2 he addresses the dynamics of the debts that result from our sin. The four biggies are: Guilt - "I owe you"; Anger - "You owe me"; Greed - "I owe me"; and Jealousy - "God owes me." Andy handles each of these brilliantly and gives excellent examples that we can all relate to, so that we can confess them and start working in a positive direction to overcome them with the help of God the Holy Spirit.

In Part 3 he focuses in on how to confront each of these sins, with their righteous (happy) counterparts: from anger to forgiveness; from greed to generosity; and reasons to celebrate the joy that we have in receiving Christ's blessing and the Holy Spirit's power at work in our lives.

In Part 4 he helps us focus on what we are modeling and the legacy we are leaving behind (especially parents for their children) and how to deal with lust.

The book includes a helpful discussion guide, which is excellent for personal application, and small group discussion.... This book is vintage Stanley: full of Scripture, great examples and illustrations, and motivates you toward wanting to live the abundant life that Jesus came to give us. I can't recommend it highly enough - life transforming! Read more ›

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Has Some Wise Advice but Ultimately Man-Centered April 13, 2013

By Jeremy

Format:Paperback

Disclaimer (and thanksgiving!): I received the audio for free from ChristianAudio.com. This review is a re-posting of my review there (after all, I always go to Amazon, not ChristianAudio for reviews :) ).

The book has some wise and (largely) biblically-grounded advice about dealing with guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy. Don't let the rest of my review detract from the sincerity with which I make that statement.

However, the book and its approach is ultimately man-centered. Other reviewers both here and at ChristianAudio have mentioned that the book is missing the role that the gospel and the Holy Spirit play in fighting sin--and this is a significant oversight on Andy Stanley's part (Rom 8:13). Yet its presentation of sin, God's response to sin, and our response to sin is missing far more -- it's missing a biblical understanding of God's holiness.

In dealing with *sin* (not just our foolishness but our wickedness), the book comes across as merely a Christianized self-help book -- that is, it seems that its ultimate aim is to help us help ourselves to deal with our "heart problems" so that we can have better relationships with other people, avoid the embarrassment that sin brings, and generally feel better about ourselves.

Sin is, however, first and most importantly *against God* and something which we need to repent of. The most significant impact it has on our happiness is its damage to our relationship with God, not the strain that it puts on our relationships with others. Yes, we do need to "break free from the four emotions that control us" but we *first* need to understand that this sin is ultimately against God and that true freedom is not found in the mere absence of guilt/anger/greed/jealousy but in reconciliation with and fellowship with God.... Until we confess our sin to God as the egregious rebellion against His perfect will that it truly is, we cannot enjoy that relationship with God and thus will never enjoy true freedom. In fact, we will become like the person in Matthew 12:43-45 who swept the house and put it in order once the demon left, but, since Jesus did not enter the house, the demon returned with seven others "and the last state of that person is worse than the first." But when we confess our sins, seeking reconciliation through the advocacy of Jesus Christ the propitiation for our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from unrighteousness (1 John 1:5-2:6) -- and then, after we have a right view of our sin and have sought reconciliation with God, we can benefit from Andy's and other people's good advice on how to recognize and avoid sin and temptation, keeping His word.

Perhaps Andy Stanley's preaching every Sunday puts a biblical emphasis on confession and repentance as well as Christ's cross-work and the Holy Spirit's role in our sanctification (I don't know -- I'm not a member of the church he preaches for) and thus the sermons on guilt/anger/greed/jealousy and such a book would be valuable to his congregation (valuable because of its relationship to that context). Without such context, however, the book is worse than useless -- it miscommunicates the seriousness of our sin and thus dishonors God in failing to acknowledge His holiness, besides failing to serve its stated purpose of giving us freedom from the sins proceeding from our hearts (see again Matthew 12:43-45). Read more ›

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Enemies that attack us ALL June 23, 2011

By Aaron K. Potratz

Format:Paperback

I was fortunate to receive this book prior to its release in exchange for reviewing it for WaterBrook Multnomah. It just released on Tuesday, and let me simply introduce it by saying that it's a book I recommend with confidence.

Who's It For:
This book is definitely for Christians, as Stanley frequently quotes Scripture passages and explains what they mean to the Christian's heart. That said, the book's reach may be broad enough because it is clinical but comes across as "self-help from a biblical perspective."

What It's About:
Enemies of the Heart is about four destructive emotions that control us and what to do about them. The emotions are guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy. If you're like me, I initially thought that only one or two of those applied. However, after reading this book I realized how incorrect my impressions were and how they could still apply to me - or anyone, for that matter - even if they weren't primary.

Stanley puts these emotions in a debt-to-debtor context, which really helped me understand and remember them more clearly. Guilt says "I owe you;" anger says "you owe me;" greed says "I owe me;" and jealousy says "God owes me." The premise is that whatever your situation, there is something that was (actually or perceived) taken and thus something owed (or believed to be owed). The solutions: confess, forgive, give, and celebrate, respectively.

Some Highlights:
I really enjoyed this book, both for personal and professional reasons. As a professional counselor, I found myself agreeing with Stanley's assessments of the four enemies of the heart as well as how they tend to evidence themselves in people's lives.... I especially appreciated that he made a point to say that a person's heart is where problems lie and how certain actions (or habits) will work to change the heart, from the inside out. Effectively, this seeks to treat the underlying cause of problems rather than simply symptoms.

Enemies is written in plain, easy-to-read language that both professionals and lay persons should be able to follow it very easily. I appreciated this. However, even though it's a quick read it's not without substance. There were often places in the book where I had to put it down and reflect for myself because Stanley's representation of the heart vices were so convicting. His approach genuinely encouraged me to desire change in areas that were illuminated as needing change.

There's also a study guide in the back, which is pretty straight forward and geared towards small group discussions. I always appreciate that option with books, because it makes them more appealing if readers choose to use it in that setting.

Some Lowlights:
One criticism I have of Stanley is that he comes across as slightly self-righteous or sarcastic at times. Particularly when he's describing the destructive nature of one of the four enemies, it felt to me as though he toed the line between admonishing and insulting. Don't get me wrong, this was very slight and definitely not intentional - in fact, at times I could tell he was using humor to make a point, and it was often effective. That said, Stanley's heart was quick to come through and repair any accidental error - especially when he moved into how to confront the enemy of the heart.

A critique I have of the book is that it can be too general in places where some explanation or caution are needed. For example, when talking about forgiving in order to overcome anger, Stanley is completely silent about situations where abuse or unrepentance exist. Even if he had no intention of applying his concepts to these circumstances, I found myself wishing he'd at least made a statement to reflect as much. There are so many questions I wished he asked and answered, such as what to do once forgiveness has been given.

Summary:
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it. It's easy to read, applicable to probably anyone, biblically referenced, and a great tool to help Christians break free of these four enemies of the heart. Keep in mind that it's not intended as a complete resource nor should it replace professional therapy or pastoral guidance, though it would be an excellent supplement for these. Read more ›