The Happy Christian - Book Review

If you think being a Christian means life is going to be all sunshine and rainbows, think again. Christians have bad days and bad times and get sad, too. But in David Murray's book The Happy Christian: Ten Ways to Be a Joyful Believer in a Gloomy World, Christians can learn techniques to turn their negativity into positivity.

It's all in how you think about things.

Take this passage from page 5 of the book:

Most people are unhappy not because of their situation but because they let their feelings rule their thoughts, or they think about things in the wrong way.

And for Christians, along with negative thoughts, having a negative faith also leads to a negative life.

Though The Happy Christian quotes from the popular book The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, unlike Peale's book, this one doesn't ask you to focus on yourself. It asks you to focus on Jesus and God. It's not enough to just have self-confidence if you don't have God-confidence.

One of the things I really liked in this book was the six steps to changing your negative thoughts as you're experiencing them. You have to ask yourself what the facts are, what you're thinking and feeling about them, and whether or not you can change the facts or your thoughts. By the end of taking the time to answer these questions, you check back in with how you're feeling and you should be feeling a little better once you've come to the realization that you may not have control over the facts but you do have control over your thoughts.

You can't develop all the skills necessary to change your negative thoughts and your negative faith just from reading this book. It takes practice, which is why I think this book would be good for a Bible study or faith-based book club to read together so all the members could hold each other accountable and offer support as you read through the book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”