Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Course Workbook: It's impossible to be spiritually mature, while remaining emotionally immature

by Peter Scazzero

For those desiring to take steps in their Christian life and discipleship, to break free from bondage to the past and experience healing, Emotional Healthy Spirituality is an eight-session video-based Bible study on the integration of emotional health and contemplative spirituality. Many sincere followers of Christ, followers who are really passionate for God, join a church, participate weekly in a small group, serve with their gifts, and who are considered "mature," remain stuck at a level of spiritual immaturity—especially when faced with interpersonal conflicts and crises.??The Emotionally Healthy Spirituality video study and companion study guide offer a strategy for discipleship that address this void, offering powerful pathways to transformation that will help people mature into a faith filled with authenticity and a profound love for God.? The eight sessions

Genres: Spirituality, Christian, Christianity, Self Help, Faith, Christian Living, Religion

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 21, 2014

Reviews

[Emily Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorites books of the year! Although there are many great things to learn from this book the biggest thing for me was the love chapter. That chapter helped me understand that I can love everyone well despite us having contrary beliefs or life styles. Their actions and what they say don’t have to offend me because we are two different people and it shouldn’t stop me from loving them. Love helps us grow emotionally and become more like Christ. When we love we walk in Gods presence daily.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this course, but if you had to choose just one of the three, the book is the most helpful. Going through the book, workbook, and devotional gets a bit repetitive as Pete uses the same examples in all three. There's a lot to process and it can be overwhelming to consider real-life implementation, but I think if you go about it the right way and add one step at a time rather than trying to change everything at once, it could be doable!

[Aleisha Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the best non-fiction book i've ever read. So eye-opening and easy to follow along and understand. I never realized how common it is in Christianity for us to be emotionally unstable, I thought it was just me. Ha ha. This book serves as a guideline to becoming emotionally mature along with our spirituality. It will touch your heart in a way that you are changed forever. It encourages us to fully feel our emotions (in a non-self hatred way), be true (in a biblical way, not a false image), and let Jesus transform us inside and out (the love of God is transformative). The insight I received from this book is the start of a journey of healing and emotional maturity!

Quoted in the book, words by Carlo Carretto: "Live love, let love invade you. It will never fail to teach you what you must do."

[Adair Kimbrough · Rating 5 out of 5]

My small group read this book together after several of us hearing many recommendations. This book came to me at such a timely moment in my life. I didn’t know how to put language around certain experiences or that there even was language to describe how the things of my past could be informing my present. This book bridges the gap between emotions and our spiritual walk, two things that cannot truly be separated. I highly recommend! Also, this book is based off of Christian principles. “Spirituality” refers to a Christian faith, just an fyi (:

[chelso presto · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are reading the main book, you’ll get WAY MORE out of it if you do the workbook alongside it! Very good

[Devin Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. This is hard for a lot of people because many of us our emotionally constipated. If you’ll simply give into the direction Scazzero offers, you will grow. It may hurt and you may want to put the book down at times, but see it through. If you’re honest with yourself this book will provide the steps for some deep change.

[Sarah K · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVE the concept of this book, I feel like it could be 400 times longer, or that each chapter should/could be an entire book as well. I’d recommend it as “required reading” for all followers of Christ, especially those in leadership positions. The importance of emotional health for church leaders cannot be overstated! I love that this concept is becoming more widespread and pray it will grow into a movement!

I only knocked one star off because the study itself involved 3 books and I found that really difficult to keep track of. I feel like the study could be made into one book (weekly chapter - weekly workbook - daily readings) and this book should/could otherwise stand alone. I’ll rethink this when/if I ever lead a group through it, which I really hope to! Because of the heavy content, it’s best read in community with others.

[Esther · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another “easier said than done” book but nonetheless found some nuggets ~

“The extent to which we love and respect ourselves is the extent to which we will be able to love and respect others”
Emotional health is about “awareness of and responding to the love of God”
“How can we affirm other people’s unique identities when we don’t affirm our own”
“We honor our parents, culture, and histories but obey God”

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn’t a standalone book, but it’s meant to help collect thoughts as you read the devotional book and to organize and prepare for weekly group meetings in the program. I found it helpful to write notes instead of just reading and thinking, and I look forward to gong back and reviewing to see if my struggles change over time.

[Daphne Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this workbook helpful, but not as necessary as the book or the devotional. Overall, I truly enjoyed the course offered through my church, West Side Presbyterian in Ridgewood. I hope this will be the beginning of some true transformation.

[Sharon McCauley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read to grow and develop into an emotionally mature person. I was stuck in a teenage maturity and at the wall too many times. This series will help you examine yourself, your family of origin and how to move forward and grow.

[Karla Osorno · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few friends and I used some of the exercises in this workbook as we talked through the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality book. We didn’t watch the videos or use the Day by Day portion. I recommend this as a supplement to go deeper in your study. It was helpful even though we didn’t use it all.

[PD · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used this book as a supplement to a men’s discussion group of the book. We didn’t use the workbook this time, but I would consider using it in the future. It works in tandem with chapter readings, refers to video clips (which I didn’t have), and provided prompts for reflective questions.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took this course at my church, and it's invaluable for personal and spiritual growth. There is a formal structure to the material which is helpful for keeping everyone engaged and moving through the chapters. An excellent small group study and companion to the main book.

[Morgan Liberatore · Rating 5 out of 5]

overall, I enjoyed the course. I did it through our church and it was impactful. I would want to go through it again and write out the things that really struck home for me. I believe there are many actionable items and the guide that goes along with this is good, too.

[Jonathan Samudio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy Estructurado

Tremendo estudio wuao la verdad que esta recomendado , muy bueno y les invito a desarrollarlo en grupo para sacarle el mayor beneficio.

[NGNAOUSSI ELONGUE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life changing and powerful.
A must for every leader.

[Tiffany Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has challenged me and it has grown me but the work is only just beginning. Take from it what is needed now and continue to let it grow you in every season of life.

[Alli Steiling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot through this book! It gave me some new perspective on how to incorporate my emotions with my relationship with the Lord! great stuff!!!

[Darby MacLea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omg. Please read this book.

[Keyla Rhoades · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great companion to the text. Lots of great prompts and diagrams. Helpful to ensure really thinking about it and expressing self as you do the work each week

[Jesse Jester · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the workbook much more helpful than the actual book, although between the three, the 40 day Daily Office book was the most useful for me.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book that's practical and spiritual at the same time

[Jo Davey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots to put in to practice, will I? Probably not.

[Ashlyn Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going through this book, in a group setting was really where it was at. It was actually doing the work, not just reading about it.

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality was 3.5⭐
The Daily Office was 3⭐

[Lillian Sjerven · Rating 5 out of 5]

really good! I learned a lot!

[tatiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LIKE THIS BOOK A LOT ITH I WOULD LIKE TO REREAD IT LOTS OF INSIGHTS AND REVELATIONS N :D

[Stephen Hiemstra · Rating 5 out of 5]

One idea prevalent in the postmodern era is image of a collage. A collage is an art form that consists of a collection which may or may not have a defining concept but is nonetheless strung together. It is kind of like the chaos of the cosmos before the Copernican revolution.

The cosmos became mathematically simpler to model with the Copernican revolution. When astronomers started seeing the earth revolving around sun rather than around the earth, the inherent stability of the planetary system became obvious. In some sense, reconciling a postmodern lifestyle with ministry looks like a collage—pre-Copernican—until that lifestyle is brought into conformity with Christ. In his book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Peter Scazzero centers on helping pastors and Christians both in traveling this journey successfully.

Peter Scazzero is a founder, former senior pastor, and now teaching pastor at New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, New York . Peter and his wife, Geri, also found Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, a teaching ministry . Scazzero divides his book into 2 parts: The problem of emotionally unhealthy spirituality (chapters 1-3) and the pathway to emotionally healthy spirituality (4-10). The chapter titles are:

1. Recognizing the tip-of-the-iceberg spirituality (something is desperately wrong).
2. The top ten symptoms of emotionally unhealthy spirituality (diagnosing the problem).
3. The radical antidote: emotional health and contemplative spirituality (bringing transformation to the deep places).
4. Know yourself that you may know God (Becoming your authentic self).
5. Going back in order to go forward (breaking the power of the past).
6. Journey through the wall (letting go of power and control).
7. Enlarge your soul through grief and loss (surrendering to your limits).
8. Discover the rhythms of the daily office and Sabbath (stopping to breath the air of eternity).
9. Grow into an emotionally mature adult (learning new skills to love well).
10. Go the next step to develop a “rule of life” (loving Christ above all else).

These chapters are preceded by acknowledgments and an introduction. They are followed by 2 appendices, notes, and a short biography of the author.
If spirituality is lived belief, then a well-formed theology modeled after Christ leads to a complete and well-formed spirituality. God’s immutable character and emotional stability is obvious on careful, biblical reflection . If theology is neglected, by contrast, then our spirituality will likely have holes. Hence, the collage may not be a healthy model for life.

Scazzero sees our person divide into 5 discrete components: emotional, social, intellectual, spiritual, and physical (18). Scazzero’s Copernican revolution arose in seeing a link between the emotional and spiritual components of his life (19). An important breakthrough came in discovering that he had misapplied biblical truths in his life (23). He accordingly cited 10 symptoms of an emotionally unhealthy spirituality:

1. Using God to run away from God.
2. Ignoring the emotions of anger, sadness, and fear.
3. Dying to the wrong things.
4. Denying the past’s impact on the present.
5. Dividing our lives into secular and sacred compartments.
6. Doing for God instead of being with God.
7. Spiritualizing away conflict.
8. Covering over brokenness, weakness, and failure.
9. Living without limits.
10. Judging other people’s spiritual journey (24).

While he devotes chapter 2 to discussing these problems, they arise in different forms throughout the book. I too struggle with these symptoms in my own faith journey all too often.

Scazzero covers a lot of ground in this book—too much for a brief review. One image, however, I thought was priceless which Scazzero draws from Parker Palmer’s book, A Hidden Wholeness . Scazzero likens our lives to a white-out blizzard where it is easy to get lost and freeze to death without a rope to bind us to our home. The rope that he suggests is the daily office—praying the hours (153-157). Praying the hours structures our day around God. Great analogy; good advice. Scazzero goes on to recommend developing a Saint Benedict’s rule of life (198-200) and making use of Saint Ignatius Loyola’s prayer of examin (211).

Peter Scazzero’s Emotionally Healthy Spirituality is a helpful and accessible read.

[Teshamae]

For those trying to decide what books you need for a small group study, know that you'll need the book, this workbook AND the Daily Office book. Items from the Daily Office are referenced each week in the Between the Sessions questions.