War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles

"No matter where you live, no matter what you do every day, there is one thing that you do all day long. You talk." (3) So begins this insightful and practical book on our communication struggles. What sets this book apart from others on the same topic is its profound depth in addressing the issues of our words. "Our communication struggle is not primarily a struggle of technique, but a struggle of the heart" (30). Tripp doesn't settle for superficial treatment. He understands that the war of words is really part of a deeper war: the war for our hearts and souls, the war between the Word made flesh, and the enemy, whose primary tools are words of distortion, deception, and destruction. War of Words is divided into three sections. Part One: "Talk is Not Cheap" provides the theological and biblical orientation from which the entire book speaks. Tripp begins by reminding us that "God Speaks" (chapter one). "He is the Great Speaker" (15); and He has spoken most fully through Jesus Christ, "the Word who is the only hope for our words" (5). God can be known because He speaks. And we are made in His image with the ability to speak ourselves. Our words have value, because God has given them value. But not only does God speak, "Satan Speaks" (chapter two). Paradise was lost because Satan used words to challenge the authority of God and offer an interpretation on life that was different from God's. Lies were spoken. Words were misused. And "for the first time, people spoke against one another" (23). Now, there is "trouble with our talk" (29). In fact, "nowhere is our weakness more dramatically revealed than in our struggle with words" (31). Into the helplessness and hopelessness of our sin, God, the Great Speaker addresses us with the greatest message of all: "The Word in the Flesh" (chapter three). The gospel of Christ addresses our fallen lives and our muddled speech. God doesn't demand that we change in our own strength. No, He sends redemption through the Living Word who becomes the ultimate model for our speech as well. Our words are meant to redeem. But our words can be redemptive only when our "idol words" (chapter four) are addressed. We must see that our speech problems are fruit growing out of the deeper root of a sinful and idolatrous heart. Right from the beginning, Tripp summarizes the "four fundamental, life-altering principles" upon which this book is based are: * God has a wonderful plan for our words that is far better than any plan we could come up with on our own. * Sin has radically altered our agenda for our words, resulting in much hurt, confusion, and chaos. * In Christ Jesus we find the grace that provides all we need to speak as God intended us to speak. * The Bible plainly and simply teaches us how to get from where we are to where God wants us to be. (5) In other words, the foundation for God-honoring speech is nothing less than the gospel itself, as understood within the framework of words. Part Two lays out "A New A

This book has changed my life. I have read it 3 times and made my own cliff notes for quick reference. Frankly, I wish there was a longer, more detail group study guide to accompany the book. If you are serious about having peaceful relationships with "everyone" around you, the best way to start is changing yourself. This has been the quickest route I have found and the most profound. The author changed my heart and gave me a positive approach to reducing (soon to stop...yeah!...I feel it coming!) my angry reactions and participation in the angry outbursts of others. I especially wanted to raise my children to the highest standards of life I could find and not "pass on" my dysfunctional upbringing. What can I say, but thank you to this man who has helped me rise up to a new level of understanding. God Bless you!

Perhaps you have wondered how a nice person like you can be so cutting with your words or so misunderstood? In typical Paul Tripp fashion the reader is taken to the heart of the problem with communication. For those who read with an open heart and mind there is much here to help us bless others with our speech and in so doing find personal fulfillment as well.