The topic of home organization appeals to me where, in reflecting our orderly God and Creator, it is nice to be in a calming environment. This book takes that sense of physical space and translates it to our emotional space, helping us clear out the debris that may be taking us away from what God wants for us to experience.
Emotional Hoarding by Laurie Davies is gentle without diminishing the pain that can accompany such a state of mind, making it a useful primer on a myriad of feelings that can have us staying down.
Many thanks to Moody Publishers for providing a complimentary copy of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
Content to be aware of: references to Brené Brown and Mark Batterson
Book Synopsis
We could live free, but cleaning house is hard.
Emotional baggage is trendy. We might even joke about it. Yet, one of the early English definitions of luggage is anything of more weight than value. Let that sink in. When we collect, stack, and stockpile burdens, we add weight but not value to our lives.
What is clogging your heart? Worry, panic, or regret? False guilt, anger, or pride? Maybe deep places you don’t talk about are buried under bitterness, worthlessness, or loneliness. You long for relief. This stuff has kept you stuck for too long. It’s time to unburden your heart and clear out the emotional burdens hindering you from living free in Christ.
With humor, relatability, and biblical wisdom, Emotional Hoarding helps readers to stop holding on to grudges, anger, regrets, and unhealed wounds and instead find wholeness and healing in Christ. Join Laurie Davies as she reveals a path away from shame, heaviness, and isolation into wide open places where you can live unburdened and free.
Emotional hoarding not only affects you, but it touches all your relationships. With input from mental health professionals, this book is also a great resource for Christian counselors, life coaches, and ministry leaders.
Source: Amazon
Book Thoughts
In masterfully comparing our clogged emotions to that of a physical space being overwhelmed with clutter, Laurie Davies takes readers through a number of emotions that may be depleting us or even preventing us from being able to live life to the fullest. Tackling worry, fear, guilt, pride, anger, bitterness, dread, worthlessness, and shame, this book examines what the Bible has to say on each emotional state, providing some rather comical anecdotes and practical tips along the way. I appreciate that the foundation of Emotional Hoarding is on biblical content over personal experiences, making it more timeless and relevant to readers of various backgrounds.
The illustration of emergency personnel being unable to rescue hoarders due to the hoarder being inaccessible or the source of the problems being unextinguishable is a powerful reminder of what sin and shame can do in our own lives. There is much to unpack in this book (pun intended), offering a sense of hope and victory that we don't have to remain mired in the gunk of our fears and worries. Ultimately, only God can provide the clearing, healing, and restoration that we long for, making this a helpful resource and supplement in Christian counselling. If you're looking for a biblical perspective on the emotions that keep cropping up, this book is a good catalyst to reevaluate what these emotions can cost us and how we can best address them so that they get a head start out of our lives.
Book Summary
- Format of book: 📖
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Recommendation: 👍
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