War Of Words | Book Review

Ready Help – A Long Time Coming

Tragically, War of Words hung around on my bookshelves for nearly two decades – untouched and unread. I purchased the book back in my home teaching days, knowing I needed some counsel on the matter of communication struggles. But life was always so perpetually busy.

Best intentions eventually getting ahold of me, I decided to read and chat about the book with a friend. Finally completed, the experience of reading ‘War of Words’ has been a long but compelling time of reckoning and repentance. More aware of God’s mercy than ever, it has been a time of praise to God for his infinite grace.

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War Of Words. Old cover, same great book!

Theology 101

There’s no way around it; War of Words is one hefty theology book. Author Paul Tripp asserts that communication struggles at their heart are more about our belief of God than words themselves. He calls to the mat all manner of speech habits, thought patterns, and presumptions, filtering them through the truth of the Bible. The messages in this book have smacked me upside the head left and right – no doubt, all in the name of love.

Some might wonder if this is such a great theological book, why I didn’t receive these messages about speech and communication directly through the Bible? Honestly, I have. The Holy Spirit has been doing a work in me for years. Yet God sees fit often, to use human teachers to aide our understanding and promote growth. On this subject (and many others), God has used Paul Tripp.

War Of Words – heavily highlighted and dogeared

Transparency inspires

Repeatedly transparent about his own war with words, Tripp encourages us, ‘In the midst of utter personal failure, we can, by His strength, win the war of words.’ I love that he shares his own strengths and failures. With some of his confessions, I literally cringed at his admissions. Some are quite the doozy! Relating with similar communication struggles, I was able to confidently go boldly to the Throne of Grace with my own.

I wholeheartedly appreciate Tripp’s ready candor and sound Biblical knowledge regarding Christian living. War of Words is no less accurate than others but, at times, overstates itself. Never the less, acknowledging this somewhat laborious aspect of War Of Words in no way detracts from the message. It is a book every Christ-follower would benefit from studying.

Old book cover, same great book.

Wrapping up, Tripp states, ‘We’ve identified the battle. It’s not just a war of vocabulary or techniques. It’s a war for the control of our hearts.’ Ultimately, this is the crux of the matter. Answering the questions of who we will submit to and who we represent in our relationships will decide our war with words.