When Words Matter Most: Speaking Truth With Grace To Those You Love. Cheryl Marshall and Caroline Newheiser. 2021. [September] 176 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: Welcome, reader, to a book about conversations. During the last few months of writing this book, personal conversations have taken on a new significance in our world.
The authors, Cheryl Marshall and Caroline Newheiser, stress the importance of speaking truth--with grace--to those you love. They encourage their readers--and the assumption is mainly that the readers will be women--to speak with truth and grace to their family, friends, coworkers. Don't shy away from hard, tough, uncomfortable conversations--at least not because of fear. When you speak the truth--aka The Word of God--with love and grace, you are speaking words of life, empowered words. The Word of God always accomplishes the will of God. And your speaking the truth with love and grace may be the means by which the Holy Spirit does his work.
This is not to say that it is always, always, always the time to speak. After all, in Ecclesiastes we read that there is a time to speak and a time to be silent. But more often than not, we stay silent out of fear rather than a lack of opportunities. I should also stress that the book is not advocating readers becoming like Job's friends! Job's friends weren't speaking with grace nor showing much love. And their truth, well, much of it wasn't truth so much as opinion.
The two share plenty of personal composite fictionalized experiences about their experiences. Some of the experiences they have been on the giving end. Some of the experiences they have been on the receiving end. And that is how it should be. If you are only willing to give advice but never to take it, willing to share verses but never receptive to hearing, then there's a problem.
I think this also deals with knowing, understanding, listening, caring. It isn't just about let me throw a brick of Scripture at you with a smile and a wave. There's a great line from Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery. Mr. Harrison has this to say about Mrs. Rachel Lynde: "I detest that woman more than anybody I know. She can put a whole sermon, text, comment, and application, into six words, and throw it at you like a brick."
This book is practical. Several chapters serve more as topical guides to Scripture for common problems and issues facing us all.
There were a few places this book seemed a little too self-promotional. For example, one of the suggestions was for you to read paragraphs out loud from this book to share with your friends. But for the most part, I think the book was solid.
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