Book Review and Giveaway: Everyday Grace
I think it is safe to say that everyone struggles in their relationships. We all have been hurt by someone in our life at one time or another. Perhaps a fellow church member spoke unkind words to us. Maybe we were emotionally neglected in some way by a parent. Or perhaps we’ve been hurt or disappointed by our spouse. Maybe we were rejected by someone we thought was a true friend.
How does the gospel of grace speak into our relationships? How does knowing the love of Christ change the way we view our relationships? Can God’s grace have any impact on our marriage, parenting, church family, and even co-workers? These are all questions addressed by Jessica Thompson in her latest book, Everyday Grace: Infusing All Your Relationships With the Love of Jesus
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There are thousands of books on the market that will give advice and steps to take to improve our relationships. That’s not what this book is about. This book is not a how-to book on what to do to make relationships work. After all, as Jessica writes, “For the most part, we know what to do in relationships: be loving, give unselfishly, don’t get angry…and on and on…The point of this book is not to give you a push in the right direction. We need more than a push. We need to be made alive (p.18).”
Everyday Grace: Infusing All Your Relationships With the Love of Jesus helps us look to our relationship with God first and foremost. In pointing us to the love God has for us in Christ, we learn how his love transforms our relationships with one another.
“Our hope in relationship is Jesus. Our joy in relationship is remembering how graciously he has loved us. As funny and counterintuitive as this sounds, our relationships cannot be about us, they must be about him. As our gaze turns from how we should be treated to how we’ve been treated by the One who has every right to cast judgment, then we will now true and intimate fellowship. All of us long for relationships that are fulfilling and loving, but the problem is that we are looking for them in the wrong places. We already have the relationship we all desire. We don’t need to use each other anymore to feel loved and wanted; we don’t need to look to others to build our self-esteem. We look to Christ alone, who has loved the unlovable, accepted the unacceptable, and given us exactly what we don’t deserve. This love will revolutionize our relationships” (p. 24).
Throughout the book, Jessica focuses on the relationship we have with God and shows us how that relationship transforms our relationship with other people. Each chapter looks at a specific aspect of our relationship with God. For example, in one chapter she helps us look to God as our father. She shows us his love for us in our adoption as children, in his perfect goodness and kindness toward us, and in his restorative discipline of us. She then shows us how God’s love for us as father changes our relationship with our own children. “The truth that God is your faithful Father gently carrying you through the hardships of parenting will change how you parent. The more you soak your heart in the truth that he has loved you despite yourself, the more you will be able to love the way you have been loved” (p.64).
Jessica also looks at how Jesus’ friendship for us changes our friendships with others, how God’s mission in the world affects how we relate to others in our communities, how God as our husband impacts our marriages, as well as other relationships and contexts. Everyday Grace: Infusing All Your Relationships With the Love of Jesus is gospel saturated from beginning to end. It’s focus is on Christ. Who he is and what he has done has everything to do with who we are and how we relate to others.
I especially appreciated the chapter on how the Holy Spirit works in our relationships with those who are hard to love or who are in hard places. This chapter was a great reminder on the important role the Spirit plays in comforting others who are wounded, in healing the hurting, and in giving us wisdom to encourage those who are hurting.
If you are facing challenges in any kind of relationship, I highly recommend this book. It is a refreshing look at the realities of how hard it is to love others. The truth is, while we know the right things to do in our relationships, we can’t do them. But Jesus has and he does. It is only by his love that we can live in relationship with others and love as he has loved us.
I have three copies of this book to give away. Enter below. US residents only, please. Update: The winners are Jennie, Jacquie, and Janie. Congrats!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher. The thoughts and opinions are my own.
Jacci
April 22, 2015 at 7:00 am (4 days ago)Whether I win it or buy it, I can’t wait to read it!
Kendal Barriere
April 22, 2015 at 7:39 am (4 days ago)Love her books. I would love to win a copy of her new one.
Amy
April 22, 2015 at 7:51 am (4 days ago)Oh, this is exactly what I need to read right now! Looking forward to this book. Thanks for sharing your review, Christina!
memalou
April 22, 2015 at 8:15 am (4 days ago)So often I think the quality of my relationships is all on me-a “you can’t change anyone but yourself” mentality. That’s true to an extent, but how can I truly have a heart-change without God’s grace? I’m eager to read this book.
Janet Plouffe
April 22, 2015 at 8:20 am (4 days ago)Sounds like a book I would be blessed by. Hope to win the book. God bless you. Thanks for sharing.
Angela
April 22, 2015 at 8:22 am (4 days ago)Would love to read this!
jenn56093
April 22, 2015 at 8:25 am (4 days ago)Would love to read this book, grace is a word that keeps coming to my heart.
Tiffany
April 22, 2015 at 8:37 am (4 days ago)This sounds like a great book!
Lisa Hellier
April 22, 2015 at 8:47 am (4 days ago)What I enjoy so much about Jessica (and her mom, Elyse) is that they write from the perspective of the source instead of the symptoms. So glad that she has written this book.
Fibia
April 22, 2015 at 8:57 am (4 days ago)Sounds like a great read. Thank you for the giveaway.
laura f.
April 22, 2015 at 8:57 am (4 days ago)I love Jessica Thompson in “Give them Grace” so this would be great too I’m sure!
BT
April 22, 2015 at 9:17 am (4 days ago)Sounds like a helpful book!
misty0822
April 22, 2015 at 9:22 am (4 days ago)I would love to read this book!
Kelli
April 22, 2015 at 9:24 am (4 days ago)Sounds like a good one!!!
Gina
April 22, 2015 at 10:24 am (4 days ago)Yes, please! Sounds like a great read.
Laura L
April 22, 2015 at 1:09 pm (4 days ago)Looks like a great book!
Alejandro A
April 22, 2015 at 1:13 pm (4 days ago)Im joining this giveaway in hope to win for my wife.
Jacquie Olsen
April 22, 2015 at 2:36 pm (4 days ago)I have a few people in my life who are so hard to love but I’m trying to press through the struggle knowing that it is God who fills me and equips me to love with His unconditional love. Jesus is our only hope and strength! Would love to read this book which sounds very inspiring.
Jen
April 22, 2015 at 3:48 pm (4 days ago)This looks like a great book.
Alysia
April 22, 2015 at 4:33 pm (4 days ago)I would LOVE to win this!
Courtney L. Moore
April 22, 2015 at 4:37 pm (4 days ago)Thanks for reviewing this book. I love Elyse Fitzpatrick, so no doubt this book will be a good one.
Christa @ BrownSugarToast
April 22, 2015 at 4:59 pm (4 days ago)would love to read this! thanks!!
Erin
April 23, 2015 at 9:55 am (3 days ago)This sounds like a great book. Thanks for the giveaway.
Caroline
April 23, 2015 at 4:53 pm (3 days ago)I’m glad to find you and maybe win this book.
Michele Morin
April 23, 2015 at 9:10 pm (3 days ago)Really enjoyed YOUR book on grace. Thanks for this heads up about what sounds like another great resource.