Reviewer Penny Watkins: Penny is a Registered Nurse and specializes in Clinical Informatics. She is also a wife, mom, grandma, activist, coffee lover, cat owner and book addict. Faith and family are her priorities and reading is her second favorite activity. (Sleeping is #1--in my spare time.) She agrees with Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Author: Reneau Peurifoy MA.
ISBN: 978-0-929437-16-3
In his most recent book, Reneau Peurifoy sheds much-needed light on the problem of human emotion. He brings a rational blend of theology and scientific psychology to explain why God gave us emotions.
Author: Reneau Peurifoy MA.
ISBN: 978-0-929437-16-3
Why Did God Give Us Emotions? That’s an important question. We Christians sometimes act as thought we experience emotions because we are a fallen people, as thought they are not part of the image of Christ within us. We don’t trust our emotions. We want to deny them, manage them or change them, not understand them.
Those two original pre-fall people had feelings, though. And Jesus had feelings. Experiencing emotions must, therefore, be part of bearing God’s very image. But why in the world would God give us something as difficult, confusing, wild and unmanageable as emotions?
In his most recent book, Reneau Peurifoy sheds much-needed light on the problem of human emotion. He brings a rational blend of theology and scientific psychology to explain why God gave us emotions. He helps us understand how our feelings can draw us closer to God, help us understand God’s will for our lives and make us more like Christ.
The book begins with a discussion of the mystery and subjective nature of emotion. Emotions are a response to life events. We respond emotionally to having needs met, to threats and to loss. This emotional response attaches meaning to these events and motivates our behavioral response to them. Factors that affect our emotional responses include biology, core beliefs, previous experiences and spirituality. The book explains why our emotional responses sometimes go awry and shows us how to receive emotional healing.
This is a practical book. It is full of tools to help you evaluate your own emotional responses. At the end of each chapter there are “recommended activities” related to the chapter content. Questions for reflection, journaling suggestions and spiritual exercises help you apply what you learned in the chapter. There are tools and suggestions for healing from deeper emotional issues, but Peurifoy also maintains that “if it’s not broken, it doesn’t need fixing.”
Peurifoy doesn’t encourage navel-gazing. Exploring our emotions should be purposeful, with the goal of becoming more Christ-like. He says, “Any physical or psychological healing will fall short of the true healing that God wants for us unless it addresses our sin nature and God’s desire for us to be transformed into the image of Christ.”
Why Did God Give Us Emotions? is clearly written and easy to understand. Peurifoy skillfully explains how modern science and Scripture agree about emotions and demonstrates how both can improve our emotional health. Emotions are confusing for many Christians and this book untangles the confusion. The author carefully lays out an orderly, logical and thoroughly Scriptural answer to the question.
Why Did God Give Us Emotions? is good for personal growth. People helpers will also find the book useful for deepening their understanding of emotions and for guiding others as they grow spiritually and emotionally. Whether you read it for personal growth or as a resource to help you minister to others, this book will help you understand human emotions and how they are part of the image of Christ in us.