Book Review: The Language of Blessing

Joseph Cavanaugh’s first book is a very encouraging look at how we speak into the lives of people we know and how that changes them. What is most interesting about this book to me, however, is that Cavanaugh spends quite a lot of time reminding us to speak into our own lives, not just the lives of other people. If we are not speaking blessing into our own lives, we will not be sharing blessings with others.

The book is highly personal, which I like. The author is able to share times when he has both struggled to overcome negativity and when he has seen how speaking blessing into others has made a clear change. Throughout the volume, Cavanaugh (who admits to having a love of growing plants) uses the imagery of gardening. The consistent usage of this imagery adds to the overall feel and makes the book an easy read.

If I were to pick one drawback, it would be that the book also mentions a particular work that the author is involved in, StrengthFinders, over and over. At times, it almost feels like a sales pitch. While I understand him mentioning the work, it becomes a labor to read about it so often in a fairly short book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and was challenged in my thinking to work within my strengths and to try to see the strengths of others, then to build up people in their strengths. I think this would be a good book for parents, employers, or even elders.

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Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book from the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for this review. I am not required to give a positive review.