Book Review: Telling Yourself the Truth by William Backus & Marie Chapian

*I received this book via Bethany House for purposes of this review, however all opinions are my own.

Telling Yourself the Truth

by William Backus & Marie Chapian

About the Book:

"The truth will set you free!

I dropped the ball and feel like a failure as a parent/spouse/friend, or, I lost my job; I am useless. This is negative self-talk at its finest. Negative thinking produces negative emotions, negative reactions, and negative behavior. Don’t be a victim of circumstances; self-destroying lies will keep you from achieving true happiness.

But true happiness is possible if you stop believing your lies. The authors explain Misbelief Therapy, a life-changing method, in an easy-to-understand way. Learning to deal with your thoughts, they say, is the first step to healthy thinking. They’ll help you stop the misbelief, I’m so lonely and miserable, and replace it with the truth: I’m alone, but not lonely. God loves me with an everlasting love, and I am invaluable to Him. Once you pull the negative thoughts out and replace them with the truth, you will see that you can lead a satisfying and fulfilling emotional life. Based on the Bible, Telling Yourself the Truth has continuously helped thousands of people for more than thirty years. This newest edition now includes a helpful study guide."

My Review:

Telling yourself the truth... that sometimes is hard.  When your full of self doubt, pity or anxiety, knowing that the way you think you feel and the way life really is is difficult.  Feelings of worthlessness, helplessness or sadness are all often overwhelming, especially when facing challenging times.  If you find yourself thinking this way often, I would recommend this book.  Using scriptures and Bible based beliefs, this book explains the theory of misbelief and gives you ways to overcome them.  These misbeliefs can be the direct cause of emotional turmoil and destructive behaviors and often appear as truth to the person thinking them.  If your always thinking your not good enough or smart enough or strong enough, you will begin to behave as if you aren't good enough, smart enough or strong enough.  It is a fact that our thoughts determine our behavior and the way you believe influences the way you feel.  

Having Faith is one of the ways that I get rid of the misbeliefs in my life because God wants us to believe and have Faith in Him.

"According to your faith be it unto you!"

You are in control of your happiness, your anger, your depression and your self control, but you first have to decide if you want to be in control.  One you decide you can then dispel all those misbeliefs and grab ahold of the Faith that God so desires you to have.  This book is a great way to help your process.  It has a great study guide included in the back that was designed for group or individual use and goes along with each chapter.  There is also space for writing right in the book which I love.