What's Your God Language?: Connecting with God Through Your Unique Spiritual Temperament

I found What's Your God Language? to be thoughtful and interesting book, and a well-written discussion about the various ways people are naturally "wired" to connect to God. I had read Gary Thomas' book, Sacred Pathways, several years ago and at that time had found it helpful in understanding my own temperament and approach to God. Dr. Perrine takes the same nine spiritual temperaments discussed in Thomas' book and expands on them. Gary Thomas wrote the foreward for Myra Perrine's book, and in it he says "Myra has done me 'one better' by not only offering a fresh perspective of these pathways, but also creating very practical exercises that make understanding them a much more life-changing realization." The book is also a very enjoyable read; in fact, even before I got to the main material of the book, as I was reading her 10-page introduction, I was inspired and intrigued. If you could see my copy of the book you would find highlights, stars and comments in the margins...and that's just the introduction! I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in drawing closer to God, or in understanding the very different ways you, your loved ones and your friends may have in approaching God. It's quite fascinating, and can make a real difference in your relationships by offering you some good insight into how these differences manifest themselves. In my opinion, you will lose nothing, and gain quite a bit, by buying What's Your God Language? It's worth much more than the purchase price!

As a woman who is seeking God, married to a man who's way of connecting with God looks so different than my own, I found this book extremely helpful and freeing, both for myself, and for my marriage,in terms of how I see and support my husbands pursuit of intimacy with God. Really powerful stuff! Myra's insightful descriptions of how different people most naturally connect with their Creator are fundamentally helpful and liberating. God used her words to remind me to give myself and others permission to embrace how they are wired, and really helped me mentally to release a lot of unhealthy comparisons my mind and heart would automatically make as I journey with other Christ followers. Good on so many levels!

Is this book fluff or substance, another North American spiritual fad or a recent discovery of a authentic biblical feature of spirituality we have never taken seriously? This is a superbly written book that will take readers into deeper relationship with God. Myra Perrine's book is both "practical and profound, comforting and convicting, theoretical and instructive" (Gary Thomas). Beautifully written, both men and women will profit equally. Realizing that as we mature in faith our intimacy with God becomes intricately linked with our self-knowledge, Myra Perrine unwraps the concept of "spiritual temperaments" and describes nine different spiritual preferences (Activist, Ascetic, Caregiver, Contemplative, Enthusiast, Intellectual, Naturalist, Sensate, Traditionalist). Chapter 2 includes two self-inventories--one to discover your Spiritual Temperament, and the second to discover and establish a baseline for your current Spiritual Practices. Part 1 introduces the reader to the concept of Spiritual Temperaments, and then unpacks the importance of one's "God Language" in growing in intimacy with God. Chapter 6 on The Lifelong Journey of Knowing a Loving God are worth the price of the book. Part 2 contains a chapter exploring each of the nine spiritual temperaments and then outlines four weeks of practical spiritual exercises for experiencing God through that temperament. Throughout the book are sidebars and boxes with questions for personal reflection, journaling and prayer. This is a woman who knows and has deep personal experience with her subject. Myra has a passion for intimacy with God and has been speaking and teaching on this subject for more than 35 years. She holds a doctor of ministry degree in Spiritual Formation, and works with Church Resource Ministries to provide pastoral care and spiritual guidance to some of CRM's over 300 missionaries in 25 nations. This is the most helpful book on spiritual formation I have read in years, and I recommend to readers who may be stalemated in going deeper with God, and looking for avenues to experience the love and forgiveness of God in fresh ways.

Having seen earlier drafts of Myra's work I am excited that it is now being introduced to a wider audience. Most of us come out of spiritual traditions where a few spiritual practices are affirmed. If we happen to fit the preferred pattern it works well for us. But many of us do not. Gary Thomas's work, plus Myra's helpful addition, have affirmed for many of us that our natural way of connecting with God is God intended. For those that fear this is one more nod to individualism, I can assure you that Myra's work will also be a significant help to those who struggle to accept those from other spiritual temperaments. The more I can truly accept the way I am wired, the more I will be open to accepting those whose spiritual wiring is different, and recognize that I deeply need them.

This is an excellent book that gives freedom and understanding that we're not all the same when it comes to our pursuit of God. Myra Perrine takes into consideration some keen insight into different ways in which individuals are put together which can greatly affect how we approach God. What she writes is useful, helpful, and eminently practical. And it's just not theory. It comes from a writer who lives what she writes.