Why Did God Give Us Emotions? (a book review)

In reading through Why Did God Give Us Emotions?: A biblical perspective on what science has discovered about emotionsI have found it to be a much deeper book that originally expected. Author Reneau Peurifoy gives a complete overview of the different aspects of emotions - physical, spiritual, etc - while also putting them in the context of Christian beliefs (or misconceptions).

It is this combination that makes this book stand out from the rest. There are many resources that deal with happiness or anxiety or small slices of the emotional spectrum but few of them are written to address such a complete and balanced view of the role God gave emotions to play in our lives, and do so with a balance of medical knowledge and Biblical insight. Peurifoy also provides some good cautions about relying too much on emotions while giving some very practical exercises and examples of where our emotions can be trusted and where they can become a false guide.

I would not say this book is light reading, if you plan to use it the way Peurifoy intends it with a journal and exercises to put each chapter into a working and potentially life-balancing practice. But as someone that has struggled with an anxiety disorder in the past, I can only say I wish I'd found this book years ago.

Highly recommend.

Review copies provided by The B&B Media Group.