Non-fiction Review: Emotional Victory

Emotional Victory: How to Deal with How You Feel, by Bud Calvert is an excellent book for Christians and especially those who counsel. I would recommend it for pastors, their wives, and anyone who needs a general counseling book about marriage, emotions, rejection, burn-out, conflicts, depression, feeling defeated, etc. In my opinion, Dr. Calvert hits a home run with his chapter on lust. (It’s about all kinds of desires, the biblical definition of "lusts of the flesh.")

This book is filled with Scripture about each subject. It’s not Christian psychobabble. It is good, solid biblical help—with Bible references—for many everyday emotional issues. You may use it to help yourself and others. It’s strong on what God can do for anybody.  

Here are a few random quotes that I thought were especially good:

• “If you want to be defeated, look back. If you want to be distracted, look around. If you want to be dismayed, look within. But if you want to be delivered, look up.”
• “Consider the example you see in the life of Jesus. Before you give up, set your face like a flint and decide this: I will finish what God has called me to. I will not give up. I will not give in.”
• On parenting: “When you concentrate on dealing with the inside, (of a child, in this context) the externals will fall into place as well.”
• Also about parenting: “The first step to talking out problems is to listen.”
• “When I feel guilt, it is because I know I’ve done wrong—whether the wrongdoing is real or imagined.”

My only exception is a minor point. Although Dr. Calvert mentions consulting a doctor about depression, he mentions it as an afterthought. My personal experience with counseling Christian women leads me to think that, especially Christians who experience sudden feelings of depression, might want to consult a doctor first. There are so many different physical causes that might need ruled out (hormones, chemical deficiencies, seasonal mood swings, etc.) that a doctor would be able to pinpoint in a few minutes. The need for medical help is probably temporary, but the person might get answers and help for those totally irrational feelings. Dr. Calvert covers all the other causes of depression thoroughly and well (death of a loved one, victimization, profound sadness, etc.).

The chapter about lust alone is well worth the price of the book.

I can wholeheartedly recommend Emotional Victory to you. (on Amazon and available for Kindle)