“The Love Revolution” by Joyce Meyers I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It showed me that Joyce Meyer is far ahead of her peers in the understanding of the ideal that ‘Faith without works is dead.’ Certainly there are a great many books on the market that talk about being happy and feeling good and preaching a prosperity mindset, be they geared toward the general lay public or Christians. This book gave me a whole new appreciation for Joyce Meyer and her work in the world. Meyers’ honesty and tone are refreshing in a genre that has at times tended to be more self-serving and self-righteous than giving and doing what the Saviour would have them do. Meyer dares to ask the question of herself and asks her millions of readers to ask themselves; “What am I doing to show love?” It is so easy to think of oneself as being an upstanding member of our religious and social communities, all the while ignoring the many people and situations around us that could all be transformed by action, not just words. Missions should not just be thought of in terms of going to remote places around the world to spread the gospel, but indeed right in our own backyard as well.
Whatever we have in terms of personal affluence, or talents, or anything else it does not take a great deal of time to do something nice for another. Meyers gives plenty of advice on this in the book. Each of us can remember to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, treating everyone whom we encounter, even those with whom we have difficulty with kindness and respect and the idea that they, like everyone else in the world, just want to matter. Reciting one story of an early 20th Century psychology professor whose requirement for his students was for them to go out for 30 days, and each day pay a compliment to three people that day. At the end of the month, they were to write a paper on how their acknowledgement and compliments not only effected those whom they were interacting with, but also themselves.
Each of us can do this. Each of us can offer a smile, or a word of encouragement, or just doing something nice for someone else, just because. We can give someone in need something that will help them, whether it is a ride to church or buying their lunch. And we can each of us do this without any idea of reimbursement or storing up treasure in Heaven, but just for the sheer enjoyment of having blessed someone else in some small way. ‘Love Revolution’ is an inspiration in that she outlines practical ways that each of us can give of ourselves, our time and our possessions in order to bless others. If you are able to look past the obviously Christian focus of the book you see the underlying message. The message is that when we apply these principles to our lives and take inspired action, I believe, just as Meyers does, that together we can change the world.
I rated this book four out of five stars.
Life Belongs to Sekhmet 