We have reached the last week of class in my communication course. We are down to our final presentations before finals week hits us. For this last presentation we were given a month to prepare and converse with out group members. The assignment was to pick one of the self help books that my professor gave us to choose from and read it. There was another class that got to pick books before my class got to pick so by the time my group picked there weren't any interesting books left. Each of my group members and I read the whole book through. We were supposed to analyze it and apply it to our lives. My book was really not applicable and no one in my group agreed with it.
Today three groups presented. We presented ours and then there was one book presented on about being a perfectionist and how to deal with that in your life. It supposedly helped out with people who have OCD as well. The other group presented a book about repairing relationships with your parents. This talked about family strife that put a wall up between kids/ adults and their parents. Both of those groups said that they would reccomend the books that they read because they really did help them.
This assignment really got me thinking about self help books in general. There are so many out there and there are some for every type of problem that someone might have. People spend hundreds of dollars and hours reading and following what these books tell them to in hopes that they will be helped or learn something that will change their lives. Self help books are there own genre in book stores and libraries. I myself have bought some and began reading them but got bored. The thought of using a self help book to make myself better never bothered me until now.
I am kind of angry with myself for thinking that I could find answers to my life questions through a silly book that was written by some person who may or may not know what they are talking about. I was out there searching for help when the best and only real self help book sat on my nightstand. God has given us the very best self help book and (just to clarify) it's the Bible.
Think about it this way, if you had a problem with your taxes, and it was stressing you out and you needed answers who would you go to? Are you going to turn to the toddler that is running around your house and ask them to fix your tax problems? No (at least I hope not)! You are going to go to someone who knows exactly what the problem is and is able to fix it for you. So to put it back in God terms, are you going to search for some author (the toddler in this situation), or are you going to ask for help from the person who knows it all, from the person who made you. I am not telling you that you are sinning for reading a self help book but just remember that you have answers if you just look for them or ask for them.
He has made this promise to us:
"Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone" Zechariah 10:1
Over and over we read that the Lord says if we seek in His name we shall find what it is that we were looking for. He will give us what we need and be our help.
The next time that you go into a book store and reach for a self help book I challenge you to stop and rather than stand in that section find the religion section and open a Bible (The Holy Bible). Look for your help in the word of the Lord. He had that book written for a reason and over time we learn some of the reasons that He gave us that book. I am not saying that we should all look at the Bible as if it were just a self help book but the Bible is so many things to us at different times in our lives. It is our road map, our comfort, our wisdom, our instruction manual on life and a self help book. It is the word of God and we can all benefit and learn from this amazing book. The only self help book at we really need is the Bible.
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