Book Review: Love Does by Bob Goff

I always expect books like this to be a sort of how to manual with lots of "this is what you should dos" and "you need to bes" but that was exactly what this book was not.  From the moment I picked up Love Does I was riveted by the stories of an incredible life lived actually doing the work of love.  Bob talks about the things he has learned through experience.  He doesn't tell us a bunch of words that we need to learn and a lot of passages we need to memorize.  Instead he tells us that Love should be an action rather than a feeling and shows, through his life and the life of others, how God can really WORK through us to be the love rather than telling people about it. 

His style of writing was wonderfully refreshing.  He starts each chapter with a little proclamation, almost a thesis statement for the following pages.  They all include "I used to.... But now I...."  and the chapter goes on to explain, with unbelievable stories, how his perceptions have been changed.  I really appreciated the way that he related in such a personal way how he has seen God working and how that has changed who he is. 

It is amazing to me that even though his life has been so incredible and he has made such an outstanding impact in so many lives, he still manages to write in a way that is humble and allows you to feel like you are able to do it too.  He also praises the work, impact and loving acts of so many people he has met.  This allowed me to feel like I could be part of an incredible story as well. 

This was a truly inspirational book!  Not only that but it was interesting, adventurous, whimsical and uplifting.  It makes you crave a life filled with that type of love and lets you know that you can have it by being the kind of loving person we were designed to be. 

Reading Love Does has made me very curious about Bob Goff's wife.  She is a woman that I would love to meet.  I think it would take a very special woman to understand and support the kind of adventurous, seemingly outlandish and almost reckless abandon that Bob throws into his life.  To be honest with you, I don't live like this because I am afraid.  I'm afraid of being hurt, physically and emotionally.  I'm afraid of failure.  I'm afraid of the judgement of others.  I'm afraid to look like a fool.  I'm afraid of breaking out of the status quo.  This book showed me that I'm afraid of a whole lot of things that I don't need to be.  Hopefully I can start to abandon myself a little more to loving others and worrying a little less about what will happen.  Maybe I can start to trust a little more in a God that wouldn't let me get into a situation that was over my head and that I couldn't handle with His help.  Maybe I can try to be a bit more like Bob Goff's wife.  

With that in mind, this book, coupled with another I read recently and the inspiration of an amazing woman I know have led me to decide to work on a little project in an attempt to spread love.  I thought it might be uplifting and helpful to the people around me and that's what I wanted, but it turns out that being loving to others doesn't just touch the person being loved, it changes something inside of you.  I think that is a part of what the impact of this book will be.  Hearts changed by giving love, not just absorbing it. 

This was an amazing book!  Truly amazing and I believe reading it will change you.


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