Knowing Yourself Knowing God Moving from An EgoRunLife to a GodLedLife Dr John Shackelford 9781507824887 Books
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Dr. John Shackelford, Christian psychologist, wants to help you know yourself. Your journey starts with being honest about your life and what you have been through – the good and the bad – and considering how it has affected you. He then offers three personality systems which have helped him and which can help you know yourself better Myers-Briggs, ego states, and Enneagram. While there may be no one exactly like you, there are many people with whom you share personality traits. The Myers-Briggs has sixteen types. You will fit one of those. The Enneagram offers nine types. You will see yourself in one of these. The Enneagram adds value as it describes the deeper dynamics which limit you. This knowledge helps you move beyond your ingrained way of living life, i.e. your ego-life. Learning about yourself can be fun at times, and hard at times. You will come to see your strengths and weaknesses more clearly. Dr. Shackelford also offers chapters on the ego, the False Self and the True Self. In your life you go through painful experiences where you flounder and fail (collapse of False Self). This life crisis, though difficult, can be a portal from your ego-run-life, to a healthy dependence on God, what the book refers to as a God-Led-Life. The author shares his own story of collapse and how he found God in a new way, despite being a Christian for years. Actually, knowing yourself better proves to be quite helpful in knowing God better and trusting Him to be the Lord of your life. In the second part of the book, Dr. Shackelford offers three chapters toward knowing God better God’s Gift, God’s Will, and God’s Desire. This can serve as a foundation for beginning to “pursue God”. The last section of the book is very personal. It is the story of six individuals who made a consistent effort to pursue God and journal their experiences. The reader can see how these six Christians moved from an Ego-Led-Life to a God-Led-Life. On this journey life becomes less about striving for love or significance, and more about knowing and following God/Jesus. As one's identity becomes secure in the unconditional love of Christ, the believer understands that life is not about what we can do for God, but about what He has done for us. This book was written to increase awareness of self and God, so that one may in humility accept the riches of knowing Christ in a intimate way. Following Him flows from deep attachment, gratitude, and having learned to hear His voice. The reader may come to better understand St. Paul who said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. “ Galatians 220 NIV.
Knowing Yourself Knowing God Moving from An EgoRunLife to a GodLedLife Dr John Shackelford 9781507824887 Books
Great book for learning inner peace!Product details
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Tags : Knowing Yourself Knowing God: Moving from An Ego-Run-Life to a God-Led-Life [Dr John Shackelford] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Dr. John Shackelford, Christian psychologist, wants to help you know yourself. Your journey starts with being honest about your life and what you have been through – the good and the bad – and considering how it has affected you. He then offers three personality systems which have helped him and which can help you know yourself better: Myers-Briggs,Dr John Shackelford,Knowing Yourself Knowing God: Moving from An Ego-Run-Life to a God-Led-Life,CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1507824882,SELF-HELP Spiritual,Self-Help,Spiritual
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Knowing Yourself Knowing God Moving from An EgoRunLife to a GodLedLife Dr John Shackelford 9781507824887 Books Reviews
Knowing Yourself Knowing God by Dr. John F. Shackelford is a Christian counseling book focused on helping you learn more about your true self (ego), and expanding your knowledge of God. The purpose behind this insight is to move past your ego in order to form a closer personal relationship with God. The book is divided into three sections (1) knowing yourself, (2) knowing God, and (3)
the stories.
The first section (Knowing Yourself) walks you through personality tests including Transactional Analysis, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and the Enneagram. For each, there are websites provided for learning your specific type, and explanations as to what each test is for, how results affect who we are, and what we can do in order to function better based on those results. He also explains his reason behind each test being advised in a Christian counseling setting. Along with these personality tests to help you discover your true identity (ego), he explains the concept of a "false self", and how this affects your relationships with everyone, including yourself and God.
The second section (Knowing God) explains God's gift (grace and love), God's will, and God's desire. It helps break down some of the ideas that are imposed on Christians (particularly as children) as to why they should follow God, why they should "be good", what God expects from them, and what God provides for them. This section would be especially helpful to adults who were raised Christian, but at some point felt a disconnect with God or questioned their own motives for following him.
The third section (The Stories) contains portions of the journey stories of six people who have worked to move from an ego-driven life to a God-led life. These stories show starting points, breaking points, and some of the steps being used to patch their lives back together.
I found this book to be very informative and helpful in my personal quest to heal from my broken past and get closer to God and His plan for my life.
Note There are a few areas where the content doesn't flow well, and the author seems to have "jumped thoughts" without a clear explanation. I also found about half a dozen minor typos while reading this book. Neither of these issues are frequent enough to detract from the overall appeal and usefulness of the material covered. 5 stars.
*Disclaimer The publisher provided me with a free copy of this book through BookCrash, in exchange for this honest review.*
John F. Shackelford is a licensed psychologist. He has a degree from the Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University.
As the title of the book suggests, Knowing Yourself Knowing God is about how people can know themselves and God better.
The part of the book about knowing oneself discusses different parts of the ego, the false self, and various personality types. Freud, Jung, Myers-Briggs, and the Enneagram feature in this section of the book. Shackelford talks about the challenges that different personality types can have in relationships. He also includes links to online tests that one can take to learn about one’s personality type, and he shares personal anecdotes and anecdotes about others.
The part of the book about knowing God is largely about taking a breather, resting, and being receptive to God’s voice.
The third section of the books has stories about people who have come to know God. They chronicle their journeys and describe their approach to knowing God and hearing God’s voice. Occasionally, they say where they are on the Enneagram and how that affects their spiritual life.
The book ends with a chart about ego functions. It draws from Freud, and it describes the ego functions and how people can constructively respond to them.
Overall, this is a very informative book. There is a scholarly element to it, and the stories add a personal element. The book sensitized me to how early experiences in life can stifle one’s creativity, if one allows that to happen. In short, what parents or adults say to their kids can have long-term effects, down the road.
The book also talked about being open about one’s anger and concerns, and the problems that can come from internalizing anger. This is a struggle for me. I can easily put people on the defensive when I express my concerns, so I often end up not saying anything. Finding a way to express my concerns constructively is a challenge. Overall, though, I find that refraining from complaining and not rocking the boat is a fairly workable policy.
Identifying my own personality type was somewhat difficult for me. Obviously, I fit into the “introvert” category, but am I an INTJ, an INTP, an ISTP, or an ISFP? I do like abstract ideas, but part of me likes to be concrete. I think that I both perceive and judge. I am not entirely cold and methodical, as some introvert-types are characterized as being (i.e., you’re not efficient, so you’re fired). Maybe I can take the tests, but, even there, I may have problems definitively putting myself into a single category. Consulting others about how they see me may be helpful, provided I am not overly sensitive about their feedback.
The book could have been better organized, and the various parts could have been better integrated with each other. The part about knowing oneself and the part about knowing God are largely independent of each other, though occasionally there are bridges Shackelford talks about how knowing God through meditation on Scripture and listening to God can enlarge one’s soul; how listening to God can temper one’s listening to one’s ego; and how one can respond, as a Christian, to one’s Enneagram. Largely, though, the book shied away from talking about how the various personality types can honor God, within their own personalities. The book could also be rather meandering.
There was one line in the book that I especially did not like, but I am not surprised to find it in a Christian book. On page 115, Shackelford is telling his own story, and he is contrasting the “drivenness and worry” that he felt with the relaxation and hospitality that he observed in his wife’s friends. He says “I realized the life I was living would not be a very attractive life to non-Christians.” Here we go Christians have to be an advertisement for Christianity to non-Christians! We have to put on a show for the outside world! Heaven forbid that people think Christians have flaws, since then they would not be attracted to Christianity! I am not suggesting that Shackelford goes that far, but the evangelical idea that Christians need to advertise Christianity to non-Christians just seems to me to go against the authenticity and honesty that Shackelford is promoting, and which he exemplifies as he shares his story and his struggles.
I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher through Bookcrash, in exchange for an honest review.
Excellent work! Very insightful personal /people experiences so helpful!
Great book for learning inner peace!
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