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Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People
What if we stopped avoiding the difficult people in our lives and committed to simply loving everybody? What happens when we give away love like we're made of it? In Everybody, Always, Bob Goff's joyful New York Times bestselling follow-up to Love Does, you'll discover the secret to living without fear, constraint, or worry.
Bob teaches us that the path toward the outsized, unfettered, liberated existence we all long for is found in one simple love people, even the difficult ones, without distinction and without limits.
In Everybody, Always, Bob shows us the simple truths about life that have the power to shift our mindset
Jesus uses our blind spots to reveal himself to usIt's easy to love kind, lovely, humble people, but you have to tackle fear in order to love people who are difficultWhat we do with our love will become the conversations we have with GodDark and scary places are filled with beautiful people who need our unconditional loveExtravagant love has extraordinary power to change lives, including our ownDriven by Bob's trademark storytelling, this book reveals the wisdom Bob learned--often the hard way--about what it means to love without inhibition, insecurity, or restriction. From finding the right friends to discovering the upside of failure, Everybody, Always points the way to embodying love by doing the unexpected, the intimidating, the seemingly impossible.
Whether losing his shoes while skydiving solo or befriending a Ugandan witch doctor, Bob steps into life with a no-limits embrace of others that is as infectious as it is extraordinarily ordinary. Everybody, Always reveals how we can do the same.
Bob teaches us that the path toward the outsized, unfettered, liberated existence we all long for is found in one simple love people, even the difficult ones, without distinction and without limits.
In Everybody, Always, Bob shows us the simple truths about life that have the power to shift our mindset
Jesus uses our blind spots to reveal himself to usIt's easy to love kind, lovely, humble people, but you have to tackle fear in order to love people who are difficultWhat we do with our love will become the conversations we have with GodDark and scary places are filled with beautiful people who need our unconditional loveExtravagant love has extraordinary power to change lives, including our ownDriven by Bob's trademark storytelling, this book reveals the wisdom Bob learned--often the hard way--about what it means to love without inhibition, insecurity, or restriction. From finding the right friends to discovering the upside of failure, Everybody, Always points the way to embodying love by doing the unexpected, the intimidating, the seemingly impossible.
Whether losing his shoes while skydiving solo or befriending a Ugandan witch doctor, Bob steps into life with a no-limits embrace of others that is as infectious as it is extraordinarily ordinary. Everybody, Always reveals how we can do the same.
237 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 17, 2018
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April 30, 2019
1.5 stars. A real disappointment. While I agree with his sentiment, the entire point is in the title/first chapter, which then gets repeated over and over and over through loosely organized stories.
The main reason I didn't connect, though, was because of the squarely white upperclass male perspective. From start to finish, Goff throws in casual mentions of extraordinary spending-- buying six homes in ten years, hopping a plane to Mount Kilimanjaro.
Does he think this is a universal experience?
And the uniquely male bravado of sitting down next to someone in a restaurant and proclaiming you'd like to buy their home *because it overlooks your favorite surfing beach*.... Yes, all of that totally matches my life.
This kind of thing just really rubs me the wrong way. And, pair all this with the repeated thesis that we should love everyone... even the "creepy" people... it comes out a little Savior Complexy. Just a little. Again, the sentiment is nice, but there was just no point of connection for me.
Pretty cover, though.
Edited to Add:
Here's my answer to a comment on this review. It fleshes out what I've stated here.
Amy wrote: "I get what you're saying, but just because he writes from his own experience (which is different from many), does it make his point any less valid? Any less true?" Hi Amy! Great question. Thanks for making me write out my reasoning—it’s helpful for me to get clarity here, too. For me, there are two issues here. The first is that the book is simply inaccessible to anyone who’s not rich, white, American, and male. Bummer! The second is more complicated, and has to do with the reference in my review to the Savior Complex. The author writes from a distinct position of power (because in Western culture, to be white, male, and rich is to be powerful). His premise is that *we* (the people with power) should “accept,” “embrace,” “appreciate" the *others* (the people without power). In this situation, the Powerful are still the only actors, while the Powerless are passive recipients of our benevolence. This does not, as he supposes, subvert the system, but reinforces it. In its worst extremes, this Savior complex manifests in the white slave master who thinks he’s kind to his slaves, whom he treats as his children-- but they are still slaves. It’s the "benevolent" dictator who doesn’t kill you today, and thinks you should bow down to him for it. Obviously, I’m taking the argument to extreme. But I think it’s salient. I would advocate that the powerful (particularly white American males with money) should use their power to elevate the powerless. Give *them* voices. Give *them* power. Step back, give your own money and power away so that others can have agency. Live in such a way that your life sheds light on their situation, be in solidarity with them. Move into their neighborhoods and befriend dthem. Babysit their kids while they work 3 jobs. Learn how the 99% live-- or struggle to live..... Do these things, instead of windsurfing in Australia and musing about them from afar. I hope that helps explain my review. It’s not that the author's position is any more or less “true” than any other; it’s that this position is not accomplishing what he hopes it will. “Be nice to icky folks” is not the same as living a life of solidarity and community with such folk, which is what I would argue would be the better, more Jesus-like posture.
The main reason I didn't connect, though, was because of the squarely white upperclass male perspective. From start to finish, Goff throws in casual mentions of extraordinary spending-- buying six homes in ten years, hopping a plane to Mount Kilimanjaro.
Does he think this is a universal experience?
And the uniquely male bravado of sitting down next to someone in a restaurant and proclaiming you'd like to buy their home *because it overlooks your favorite surfing beach*.... Yes, all of that totally matches my life.
This kind of thing just really rubs me the wrong way. And, pair all this with the repeated thesis that we should love everyone... even the "creepy" people... it comes out a little Savior Complexy. Just a little. Again, the sentiment is nice, but there was just no point of connection for me.
Pretty cover, though.
Edited to Add:
Here's my answer to a comment on this review. It fleshes out what I've stated here.
Amy wrote: "I get what you're saying, but just because he writes from his own experience (which is different from many), does it make his point any less valid? Any less true?" Hi Amy! Great question. Thanks for making me write out my reasoning—it’s helpful for me to get clarity here, too. For me, there are two issues here. The first is that the book is simply inaccessible to anyone who’s not rich, white, American, and male. Bummer! The second is more complicated, and has to do with the reference in my review to the Savior Complex. The author writes from a distinct position of power (because in Western culture, to be white, male, and rich is to be powerful). His premise is that *we* (the people with power) should “accept,” “embrace,” “appreciate" the *others* (the people without power). In this situation, the Powerful are still the only actors, while the Powerless are passive recipients of our benevolence. This does not, as he supposes, subvert the system, but reinforces it. In its worst extremes, this Savior complex manifests in the white slave master who thinks he’s kind to his slaves, whom he treats as his children-- but they are still slaves. It’s the "benevolent" dictator who doesn’t kill you today, and thinks you should bow down to him for it. Obviously, I’m taking the argument to extreme. But I think it’s salient. I would advocate that the powerful (particularly white American males with money) should use their power to elevate the powerless. Give *them* voices. Give *them* power. Step back, give your own money and power away so that others can have agency. Live in such a way that your life sheds light on their situation, be in solidarity with them. Move into their neighborhoods and befriend dthem. Babysit their kids while they work 3 jobs. Learn how the 99% live-- or struggle to live..... Do these things, instead of windsurfing in Australia and musing about them from afar. I hope that helps explain my review. It’s not that the author's position is any more or less “true” than any other; it’s that this position is not accomplishing what he hopes it will. “Be nice to icky folks” is not the same as living a life of solidarity and community with such folk, which is what I would argue would be the better, more Jesus-like posture.
February 5, 2021
I need to start off with a disclaimer. I think this is a really important book with a powerful message...and I also think it has some problematic elements. However, I'm struggling to even feel permission to voice the latter because 1. it feels defensive and like I totally missed his point, especially since he harped so much against having opinions and 2. Bob Goff has done some incredible, inspiring things in his life and all my accomplishments and contributions to humanity frankly pale in comparison. Reviewing this feels a lot like reviewing Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta, except maybe even worse because who wants to be the person "Well actually"-ing a book about how we should go love people? But I think it's dangerous to let anyone hang out on a pedestal and censor your more critical thoughts, so I'm going for the both/and here...and there is a lot both/and. I can't remember the last book that elicited such strong moments of "YES" and "Uhhh...no..." from me before.
I loved the message at the heart of the book, and can't imagine one that I'd rather Christians be receiving and championing right now. Goff is responding to a modern-day Church that's gone stale in its dedication to reciting the same script with perfect precision and convincing others to do the same, following a narrow, boxed-in model of Christianity that's far more focused on right belief than the embodiment and enactment of anything being studied, memorized, and repeated. Although he never outright names it, this reads as a rebuke/invitation to a Christianity caught up (and losing) a culture war, one that's become known more for its condemning opinions on social issues and identities than, well, anything else. The incarnation of Christianity he's presenting here is vibrant, joyful, welcoming, adventurous, self-sacrificing, others-focused, and Jesus-centered...all qualities I think many would agree are lacking in common conceptions of the Church today, particularly from those outside of it.
Centering around John 13:35's declaration that Jesus will be made known by our love for others, the core of the book is an exhortation to set aside our loud opinions, critical commentary, and even our tried and true markers of what most would consider a "churched faith" (not to say there's an anti-church message necessarily) in favor of the pursuit of what he calls "becoming love." I found that language really compelling, and was struck throughout the book at his encouragements to dissolve the barriers we construct to set us apart and above the "Other" (p3), embrace a gracious posture of naming who you see people becoming rather than where they're falling short or following to a strategic agenda (p31-32, 48), intentionally fill our lives with people unlike us who exist across the many lines that divide us (p43), relinquishing our need for the spotlight and its admiration to instead treat every act of love as a gift to God (p73), committing to actually, tangibly offering support when it's asked for by "the least of these" (p144-145), ask ourselves how our life is working not for ourselves but for the people around us (p159), and practice the hard, hard work of gracious enemy love (like the last chunk of the book). That is all really, REALLY good stuff!! Convicting, energizing, encouraging, and catalyzing, for sure and without a doubt. In fact, my sister initially had just loaned me the book, and after only two pages I knew it was saying some things so terrific that I had to have my own copy.
But, I have a but. I don't think of myself as someone who walks around pointing fingers as a part of the Privilege Police, although the context that I live in and the relationships I've made there have undeniably given me a lens that notices disparities of power, access, and, yes, privilege. In all things, I now find myself instinctively asking how my neighbors fit into the narrative. And I've gotta be honest, I noticed some things with those eyes that made me pretty uncomfortable. To start, as others have named before, this is packed full of Bob's whimsical, life-changing adventures...all of which are possible because of his apparently exorbitant wealth. And while he clearly does a better job than most using his resources for the good of others, there are examples that make it clear he's still pretty removed from impoverished or even middle class reality. At one point, touching on the feelings of inadequacy we face when we compare ourselves to others, the example of inferiority he offers is when the private plane he's flying is a scrappy model older and more beaten up than the newer ones being flown around him. This is his life, and it makes for good stories, but something about the total, absolute lack of ownership or naming how unique his opportunities are was disappointing. Later promoting the importance of being present and prioritizing his family relationships, he shares about his daily flights home for dinner, even if it means booking a third and fourth flight to the same part of the country and back the following day, and how he flew to Seattle each day for a number of years without his kids even knowing. It reads as a slap in the face when I think of single moms working two jobs or even truck drivers who obviously don't have that luxury. As a final and most frustrating example, he outright brags about holding his office hours at Disneyland, saying "I tell the students at Pepperdine if they have a question and ninety-five bucks, they should come and see me," (p181 yes that's a direct quote) which just feels belligerent in its disenfranchisement and exclusion.
And that, I think, speaks more directly to the frustration that grew over time towards the seemingly total lack of an analysis of power undergirding his ideas. While he certainly names the importance of Matthew 25:31-46 and its call to serve the "least of these" and I credit him for both naming that and living it out most notably through his nonprofit Love Does, I needed more specificity and nuance from him in his writing. The reality is, love looks different towards a slave and a slave owner, and while he mentions at one point the room we have to speak truth to power, the example is him telling a poor witch doctor from Uganda not to kidnap children or he'll kill them. Aside from promoting the death penalty, I'm obviously not against speaking out against witch doctors who kidnap children, but my fear is that when you position yourself so ardently against opinions and big words (the two things he most consistently speaks against), you may close yourself off from being challenged to examine the world with a critical lens that really allows you to speak truth to systemic power. For some people, the world isn't just full of setbacks and difficult people, but structural impediments designed to keep them behind and legitimate oppressors capable of exerting unjust power over them. As an example, it felt telling that despite the queer community being the most obviously disenfranchised from the Church by the opinionated posture he critiques, he never outright names them at any point in the book, a risk that could have paid off big time in challenging Christians to love the community they're historically the least likely to.
And lastly, it has to be named that in nearly every single story, Bob is positioned as the hero, a sort of Santa Claus dolling out neighborhood parades, ankle bracelets, and trips to Mount Kilimanjaro, and while it's really wonderful and awesome that he's able to do all these amazing, spectacular things for people, it starts to feel weird after a while, especially when you realize how few simple, inexpensive, ordinary examples of people he deems to be becoming love there are. (That's mainly why I loved the chapter about Adrien the TSA agent so much; it was all about him rather than Bob.) The people in my life that came to mind when I thought of who was "becoming love" didn't have means to do anything extravagant or spectacular by worldly standards, and some more modest examples would've been appreciated. Bob makes a point at least once to name that Jesus is the one responsible for leading anyone to Jesus, but I think there are still elements of a savior-complex even in the ways that Bob is consistently centered. I know I'm in murky territory criticizing someone who's done so much good, but so much of my work has been about learning that to do justice, we can't just do the right things, we also have to adopt the right posture and perspective.
Even with those critiques, though, I still think this is a really beautiful, important, needed book. If all the Christians in my life read it, they would be better off, and so would the reputation of our faith and our world at large. I have found myself continually galvanized by the simple yet demanding invitation to "become love" and have already begun to see fruit from doing just that. In a culture that is increasingly polarized and a manifestation of the Church that seems more invested in reinforcing its borders and barriers and perfecting its gatekeeping doctrine, this is an undeniably relevant message. One of my mentors often says, "Eat the meat and spit out the bones" when it comes to content that she shares. The meat of this, I can honestly say, I absolutely loved; it has the potential and even the likelihood of re-centering followers of Jesus around the importance of embodying love in powerful ways...it's just a shame there are quite a few bones.
(Post Edit: this is my first review to garner much of a response — glad it resonates with so many folks! Feel free to friend me if you’d like to see more thoughts on books haha, I’d love to connect more on the site and see your thoughts too!)
I loved the message at the heart of the book, and can't imagine one that I'd rather Christians be receiving and championing right now. Goff is responding to a modern-day Church that's gone stale in its dedication to reciting the same script with perfect precision and convincing others to do the same, following a narrow, boxed-in model of Christianity that's far more focused on right belief than the embodiment and enactment of anything being studied, memorized, and repeated. Although he never outright names it, this reads as a rebuke/invitation to a Christianity caught up (and losing) a culture war, one that's become known more for its condemning opinions on social issues and identities than, well, anything else. The incarnation of Christianity he's presenting here is vibrant, joyful, welcoming, adventurous, self-sacrificing, others-focused, and Jesus-centered...all qualities I think many would agree are lacking in common conceptions of the Church today, particularly from those outside of it.
Centering around John 13:35's declaration that Jesus will be made known by our love for others, the core of the book is an exhortation to set aside our loud opinions, critical commentary, and even our tried and true markers of what most would consider a "churched faith" (not to say there's an anti-church message necessarily) in favor of the pursuit of what he calls "becoming love." I found that language really compelling, and was struck throughout the book at his encouragements to dissolve the barriers we construct to set us apart and above the "Other" (p3), embrace a gracious posture of naming who you see people becoming rather than where they're falling short or following to a strategic agenda (p31-32, 48), intentionally fill our lives with people unlike us who exist across the many lines that divide us (p43), relinquishing our need for the spotlight and its admiration to instead treat every act of love as a gift to God (p73), committing to actually, tangibly offering support when it's asked for by "the least of these" (p144-145), ask ourselves how our life is working not for ourselves but for the people around us (p159), and practice the hard, hard work of gracious enemy love (like the last chunk of the book). That is all really, REALLY good stuff!! Convicting, energizing, encouraging, and catalyzing, for sure and without a doubt. In fact, my sister initially had just loaned me the book, and after only two pages I knew it was saying some things so terrific that I had to have my own copy.
But, I have a but. I don't think of myself as someone who walks around pointing fingers as a part of the Privilege Police, although the context that I live in and the relationships I've made there have undeniably given me a lens that notices disparities of power, access, and, yes, privilege. In all things, I now find myself instinctively asking how my neighbors fit into the narrative. And I've gotta be honest, I noticed some things with those eyes that made me pretty uncomfortable. To start, as others have named before, this is packed full of Bob's whimsical, life-changing adventures...all of which are possible because of his apparently exorbitant wealth. And while he clearly does a better job than most using his resources for the good of others, there are examples that make it clear he's still pretty removed from impoverished or even middle class reality. At one point, touching on the feelings of inadequacy we face when we compare ourselves to others, the example of inferiority he offers is when the private plane he's flying is a scrappy model older and more beaten up than the newer ones being flown around him. This is his life, and it makes for good stories, but something about the total, absolute lack of ownership or naming how unique his opportunities are was disappointing. Later promoting the importance of being present and prioritizing his family relationships, he shares about his daily flights home for dinner, even if it means booking a third and fourth flight to the same part of the country and back the following day, and how he flew to Seattle each day for a number of years without his kids even knowing. It reads as a slap in the face when I think of single moms working two jobs or even truck drivers who obviously don't have that luxury. As a final and most frustrating example, he outright brags about holding his office hours at Disneyland, saying "I tell the students at Pepperdine if they have a question and ninety-five bucks, they should come and see me," (p181 yes that's a direct quote) which just feels belligerent in its disenfranchisement and exclusion.
And that, I think, speaks more directly to the frustration that grew over time towards the seemingly total lack of an analysis of power undergirding his ideas. While he certainly names the importance of Matthew 25:31-46 and its call to serve the "least of these" and I credit him for both naming that and living it out most notably through his nonprofit Love Does, I needed more specificity and nuance from him in his writing. The reality is, love looks different towards a slave and a slave owner, and while he mentions at one point the room we have to speak truth to power, the example is him telling a poor witch doctor from Uganda not to kidnap children or he'll kill them. Aside from promoting the death penalty, I'm obviously not against speaking out against witch doctors who kidnap children, but my fear is that when you position yourself so ardently against opinions and big words (the two things he most consistently speaks against), you may close yourself off from being challenged to examine the world with a critical lens that really allows you to speak truth to systemic power. For some people, the world isn't just full of setbacks and difficult people, but structural impediments designed to keep them behind and legitimate oppressors capable of exerting unjust power over them. As an example, it felt telling that despite the queer community being the most obviously disenfranchised from the Church by the opinionated posture he critiques, he never outright names them at any point in the book, a risk that could have paid off big time in challenging Christians to love the community they're historically the least likely to.
And lastly, it has to be named that in nearly every single story, Bob is positioned as the hero, a sort of Santa Claus dolling out neighborhood parades, ankle bracelets, and trips to Mount Kilimanjaro, and while it's really wonderful and awesome that he's able to do all these amazing, spectacular things for people, it starts to feel weird after a while, especially when you realize how few simple, inexpensive, ordinary examples of people he deems to be becoming love there are. (That's mainly why I loved the chapter about Adrien the TSA agent so much; it was all about him rather than Bob.) The people in my life that came to mind when I thought of who was "becoming love" didn't have means to do anything extravagant or spectacular by worldly standards, and some more modest examples would've been appreciated. Bob makes a point at least once to name that Jesus is the one responsible for leading anyone to Jesus, but I think there are still elements of a savior-complex even in the ways that Bob is consistently centered. I know I'm in murky territory criticizing someone who's done so much good, but so much of my work has been about learning that to do justice, we can't just do the right things, we also have to adopt the right posture and perspective.
Even with those critiques, though, I still think this is a really beautiful, important, needed book. If all the Christians in my life read it, they would be better off, and so would the reputation of our faith and our world at large. I have found myself continually galvanized by the simple yet demanding invitation to "become love" and have already begun to see fruit from doing just that. In a culture that is increasingly polarized and a manifestation of the Church that seems more invested in reinforcing its borders and barriers and perfecting its gatekeeping doctrine, this is an undeniably relevant message. One of my mentors often says, "Eat the meat and spit out the bones" when it comes to content that she shares. The meat of this, I can honestly say, I absolutely loved; it has the potential and even the likelihood of re-centering followers of Jesus around the importance of embodying love in powerful ways...it's just a shame there are quite a few bones.
(Post Edit: this is my first review to garner much of a response — glad it resonates with so many folks! Feel free to friend me if you’d like to see more thoughts on books haha, I’d love to connect more on the site and see your thoughts too!)
March 6, 2018
I am reviewing the first five chapters of the book that I received from the publisher.
I first "met" Bob when I read Love Does and because I loved that book, when I found out about his new book I was dying to get my hands on a copy of it. While reading the first five chapters, I have laughed and cried - sometimes within just a few sentences. Bob has a way with words - his sentences may be short and simple, but they go so much deeper than the surface. In "Everybody, Always" Bob keeps Christianity simple, not easy, and reminds us we are to love everybody, always. Even those that we are afraid of or disagree with. Jesus didn't come to save those who agreed with him, Jesus came to save everybody...always.
I first "met" Bob when I read Love Does and because I loved that book, when I found out about his new book I was dying to get my hands on a copy of it. While reading the first five chapters, I have laughed and cried - sometimes within just a few sentences. Bob has a way with words - his sentences may be short and simple, but they go so much deeper than the surface. In "Everybody, Always" Bob keeps Christianity simple, not easy, and reminds us we are to love everybody, always. Even those that we are afraid of or disagree with. Jesus didn't come to save those who agreed with him, Jesus came to save everybody...always.
May 22, 2018
I feel like the Grinch, but Bob came across as quite egoistic — buying houses and moving “sweet Marie” without discussing it with her, controlling what news his kids hear, holding “office hours” in Disney Land so his students have to pay MORE money just to ask questions they have about his course. He tells these stories in a folksy voice that embodies the best of Mr Rogers crossed with Wilfred Brimley advertising Quaker Oats. (I have the audible version)
He’s always up for adventure and I really appreciated the anecdotes about his truck battle with his dad, the homeless man’s timeshare arrangement in said truck, and his friendship with the TSA agent. The book soars when he shares his adventures in Ugandan law and subsequent adoption of Charlie.
The book was uneven. Friends of mine have said that listening to Bob is like hearing Jesus. Uh. No. I found the spiritual applications to be the weakest parts - very touchy freely. But they are an integral part of his intended message: don’t judge, don’t write people off, look below the surface and you will find something in everyone to love. That’s a great message for the world today.
He’s always up for adventure and I really appreciated the anecdotes about his truck battle with his dad, the homeless man’s timeshare arrangement in said truck, and his friendship with the TSA agent. The book soars when he shares his adventures in Ugandan law and subsequent adoption of Charlie.
The book was uneven. Friends of mine have said that listening to Bob is like hearing Jesus. Uh. No. I found the spiritual applications to be the weakest parts - very touchy freely. But they are an integral part of his intended message: don’t judge, don’t write people off, look below the surface and you will find something in everyone to love. That’s a great message for the world today.
May 15, 2018
I received a free copy of Everybody Always by Bob Goff from Bookish First for my honest review.
What a beautiful and delightful book to read in a world so full of chaos. This book is about how to live life with love always. It opens your heart and makes you realize that you need to love everyone not just the ones who are easy to love. This is a great reminder for everyone to realize that love is simple and doesn't need to ever be complicated. Bob Goff shows us to love the people that frustrate us, the people we don't understand, the people we disagree with, and even people we might not like. An absolute must read.
What a beautiful and delightful book to read in a world so full of chaos. This book is about how to live life with love always. It opens your heart and makes you realize that you need to love everyone not just the ones who are easy to love. This is a great reminder for everyone to realize that love is simple and doesn't need to ever be complicated. Bob Goff shows us to love the people that frustrate us, the people we don't understand, the people we disagree with, and even people we might not like. An absolute must read.
February 25, 2018
This book is very Bob Goff - he makes things simple but not easy. Uncomplicated ideas that make you think. It (like Love Does) makes you see the possibilities not the road blocks.
May 21, 2021
“Every time I wonder who I should love and for how long I should love them, God continues to whisper to me: Everybody, always.”
I can wholeheartedly say that this is one of the best books I’ve ever read.
I am so deeply moved by the stories held within these chapters. This was humbling, eye-opening, and a reminder to take more chances, to have more patience, and to give more grace.
Love can absolutely move mountains. And God delights in the impossible.
Thank you to my mom and dad for recommending this author to me. And for being the most loving people I know. 💛
I can wholeheartedly say that this is one of the best books I’ve ever read.
I am so deeply moved by the stories held within these chapters. This was humbling, eye-opening, and a reminder to take more chances, to have more patience, and to give more grace.
Love can absolutely move mountains. And God delights in the impossible.
Thank you to my mom and dad for recommending this author to me. And for being the most loving people I know. 💛
April 28, 2018
Oh, where to start. I’ve had preview access to the first five chapters and this book has hit me like a brick. In Love Does, I cry every time I read (and yes, I’ve read it a lot) two stories: the one about Don Valencia and VIA Starbucks coffee, and the one where Bob and his friends sail to Hawaii. Those come quite late in the book, so I’m prepared and ready for a hard-hit to the feels. This one, however, hit me in chapter three. FIRST THING. But in such a good way. I can’t wait to keep reading and learning about ways to “become love.” I really can’t wait to share it with my family and friends and people all over. Thanks, Bob, for bringing us another book on how to be more like Christ and how to be better people in general.
April 22, 2018
The long-awaited follow-up to Love Does, this book by Goff continues to put on display the extravagant love of God. Somehow Goff manages to be both whimsical and serious. What I read from him makes me want to live out the faith I say I believe.
Reading what Bob writes makes me believe anything is possible because he is crazy enough to believe that living our lives for Jesus has a real impact on people right now. (He has the stories to back that up!)
I wanted to underline the whole book. And because Bob includes stories about his own failures and snuggles, his teaching is relatable and accessible. If you were encouraged and challenged by Love Does, expect to be blown away by Everybody Always.
Reading what Bob writes makes me believe anything is possible because he is crazy enough to believe that living our lives for Jesus has a real impact on people right now. (He has the stories to back that up!)
I wanted to underline the whole book. And because Bob includes stories about his own failures and snuggles, his teaching is relatable and accessible. If you were encouraged and challenged by Love Does, expect to be blown away by Everybody Always.
December 16, 2018
I read this book because I really need some help figuring out how to do a better job loving some difficult people in my life. Most of this book is not actually about loving difficult people. There are a couple of small stories about loving prisoners and loving witch doctors, but no real tips about how to love toxic people who are part of your every day life.
Also, while Bob Goff seems like a really exuberant guy, his life circumstances are incredibly different than the average person’s and his answer to many problems is about spending money on them.
Finally, this is a religious book, which the initial blurb doesn’t really communicate. I am all for living more like Jesus, but Goff spends a lot of time speaking for God and half the time his declarations about what God thinks or what God wants are not even biblically based.
Ultimately, there were a couple of points about love that I’ll take with me, but I didn’t need the entire book to get there.
Finally, it’s really hard for me to listen to Bob Goff talk about love in Uganda, when Uganda has one of the most hateful and violent anti-homosexual laws in the world. Goff talks a lot about not worrying about social issues but just loving people. If he really means that people shouldn’t practice law but pursue justice, then being love in Uganda has to include protecting our LGBT sisters and brothers.
Also, while Bob Goff seems like a really exuberant guy, his life circumstances are incredibly different than the average person’s and his answer to many problems is about spending money on them.
Finally, this is a religious book, which the initial blurb doesn’t really communicate. I am all for living more like Jesus, but Goff spends a lot of time speaking for God and half the time his declarations about what God thinks or what God wants are not even biblically based.
Ultimately, there were a couple of points about love that I’ll take with me, but I didn’t need the entire book to get there.
Finally, it’s really hard for me to listen to Bob Goff talk about love in Uganda, when Uganda has one of the most hateful and violent anti-homosexual laws in the world. Goff talks a lot about not worrying about social issues but just loving people. If he really means that people shouldn’t practice law but pursue justice, then being love in Uganda has to include protecting our LGBT sisters and brothers.
September 3, 2019
Five stars, no doubt. This book challenged me, convicted me, inspired me, and deeply impacted me. It changed my life and the way I look at and love those around me. You will not regret reading this book!! I guarantee it will change your heart, molding and shaping it to soften and become more like Christ's. Bob Goff has a message in his heart that I feel Jesus is wanting us to apply to our lives. I am so grateful for Bob writing his story because it surely has changed mine. He is absolutely inspiring. I was drawn in by the captivating stories at the beginning of each chapter--then he would beautifully spin the story around into a beautiful analogy of love and selflessness. I already know this will be the best book of 2018 for me. If you read any book your whole life, let it be this one.
July 21, 2018
Had to read this for book club, otherwise I'd never pick a book like this up (I am in no way religious). The stories he told about all these wonderful people he's come across in his life were great and I enjoyed them a lot, but the whole religious side of the book just made me cringe. It felt like he repeated the same thing over and over again in every chapter. Not my kind of book.
March 5, 2018
I have a feeling that this book, each chapter, maybe even every paragraph will constantly challenge it's readers to think about love in a new way. It's pure honesty strikes me in a way that many other books have not done. Bob invites his readers into a series of adventure weaving through separate parts of his life story on how to love everybody, always. I am excited to read the rest of this book when it comes out next month.
I received an advanced reader copy containing the first five chapters in exchange for an honest review.
I received an advanced reader copy containing the first five chapters in exchange for an honest review.
March 15, 2018
Walkie-Talkies, Home Improvement, & Faith - Oh, My!
All the stars...all the feels..and here's why:
I wasn't sure what to expect from EVERYBODY, ALWAYS as I didn't read the first NYT best selling book by Bob Goff. However, the title and the book cover intrigued me, so I decided to read an excerpt on BookishFirst. Then, yay! I was lucky enough to win a copy of the actual book for my honest review. Thank you to BookishFirst, the publisher, and the author.
WOW. Just WOW. The day this book came in the mail, I devoured the book in one sitting. That’s right. So much for making dinner, or tackling my to-do list. I sat in my favorite chair and got sucked right into Bob’s world.
First off, Sweet Maria is a saint to go through that many home improvement houses/projects with her author husband, Bob Goff. I guess it's safe to say she's along for a wild and bumpy ride, and it's her faith in their love that keeps her from packing up and moving on without him. LOL - I love the line, "It’s one of the few rules in our marriage—we agreed if Sweet Maria ever decides to leave me, she has to take me with her." Clearly, she's sweet on him as he is on her, and they both must have a good sense of faith and humor to keep the marriage strong.
Second, Mr. Goff tugged at my heartstrings. His relationship with their neighbor Carol was so endearing and his use of walkie-talkies as a way to strengthen his connection with an ailing neighbor who had become like family was truly touching. My eyes were blinded by hot tears, but my faith was restored by his simple gesture.
Finally, the author tells a story in the most engaging way. You feel like you’re sitting on his front porch, sipping some tea, having a little chat, and then bam! The next thing you know, you’re either laughing or crying or reflecting on your life. It takes a talented author to pull all of those emotions from a reader in one sitting, and Mr. Goff delivers.
If you love a humorous book on faith, love and walkie-talkies, EVERYBODY ALWAYS is for you. Highly recommend.
All the stars...all the feels..and here's why:
I wasn't sure what to expect from EVERYBODY, ALWAYS as I didn't read the first NYT best selling book by Bob Goff. However, the title and the book cover intrigued me, so I decided to read an excerpt on BookishFirst. Then, yay! I was lucky enough to win a copy of the actual book for my honest review. Thank you to BookishFirst, the publisher, and the author.
WOW. Just WOW. The day this book came in the mail, I devoured the book in one sitting. That’s right. So much for making dinner, or tackling my to-do list. I sat in my favorite chair and got sucked right into Bob’s world.
First off, Sweet Maria is a saint to go through that many home improvement houses/projects with her author husband, Bob Goff. I guess it's safe to say she's along for a wild and bumpy ride, and it's her faith in their love that keeps her from packing up and moving on without him. LOL - I love the line, "It’s one of the few rules in our marriage—we agreed if Sweet Maria ever decides to leave me, she has to take me with her." Clearly, she's sweet on him as he is on her, and they both must have a good sense of faith and humor to keep the marriage strong.
Second, Mr. Goff tugged at my heartstrings. His relationship with their neighbor Carol was so endearing and his use of walkie-talkies as a way to strengthen his connection with an ailing neighbor who had become like family was truly touching. My eyes were blinded by hot tears, but my faith was restored by his simple gesture.
Finally, the author tells a story in the most engaging way. You feel like you’re sitting on his front porch, sipping some tea, having a little chat, and then bam! The next thing you know, you’re either laughing or crying or reflecting on your life. It takes a talented author to pull all of those emotions from a reader in one sitting, and Mr. Goff delivers.
If you love a humorous book on faith, love and walkie-talkies, EVERYBODY ALWAYS is for you. Highly recommend.
March 2, 2018
Bob Goff has a relaxed, conversational style of writing that makes you feel as if you are just sitting down to chat over coffee. He does a fantastic job of mixing deep truth with engaging stories from his own life. One minute you will be laughing out loud, before being brought to tears, followed closely by the need to stop reading to meditate and pray on the concepts presented.
Loving others well requires us to step outside our comfort zone, not only to reach the “others” that we wouldn’t typically interact with, but to show them real, genuine love. Love is fun, joyful, and whimsical, but most of us would not use those words to describe the way we live our lives. Bob gives examples of getting a set of walkie-talkies for him and one of his neighbors who was going through a difficult time. They could have easily talked on the phone, but it was more fun to turn back to the childhood whimsy of walkie-talkies, like two cans on a string. He gives another example of a neighborhood parade he has every year, just for fun. If we live our life full of intentional joy, love will be a natural overflow from that joy.
Loving others well requires us to step outside our comfort zone, not only to reach the “others” that we wouldn’t typically interact with, but to show them real, genuine love. Love is fun, joyful, and whimsical, but most of us would not use those words to describe the way we live our lives. Bob gives examples of getting a set of walkie-talkies for him and one of his neighbors who was going through a difficult time. They could have easily talked on the phone, but it was more fun to turn back to the childhood whimsy of walkie-talkies, like two cans on a string. He gives another example of a neighborhood parade he has every year, just for fun. If we live our life full of intentional joy, love will be a natural overflow from that joy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2018
I loved the message of this book, because that is also how I want to love my life, and it was a nice quick read in the morning for 10-20 minutes before kids woke up...however, Bob’s tone can get a little over the top corny for me at times, which I don’t begrudge him, it just made the book a little less appealing to me personally (the Disney love baffles me).
The most major complaint I have is that at least three times in the book he uses the term “hookers” instead of a kinder, more PC term like “sex worker.” This jolted me away from believing his mission statement of acting with love towards all because that’s an outdated and harmful phrase that reduces someone to less human. There was another instance where something racially insensitive was said too. If those poor word choices had been changed, I would give this book 4 1/2 stars.
The most major complaint I have is that at least three times in the book he uses the term “hookers” instead of a kinder, more PC term like “sex worker.” This jolted me away from believing his mission statement of acting with love towards all because that’s an outdated and harmful phrase that reduces someone to less human. There was another instance where something racially insensitive was said too. If those poor word choices had been changed, I would give this book 4 1/2 stars.
November 2, 2024
I actually feel terrible for giving this book a low score. I AGREE with the message: love everybody, always. Absolutely. No conflict with that message in any way.
I just felt... ready for it to be done. There isn't structure. It's fluffy and feely. There's minimal scripture so it's the same message driven home repeatedly by personal anecdote. And while I can get behind some emotion driven content, I feel like somewhere along the line, he lost sight of the message and maybe... shared too many personal stories? Give yourself your flowers, sure. He's worked hard to get where he's at. He's welcome to acknowledge his successes because, for him, they truly were where he learned and grew through life. I just kind of got bored reading about his escapades.
I think I was looking for something meatier, so the fluff wasn't sitting with me when I read this. It is pretty good in a lot of ways. Just okay for me right now.
I'd rate this a PG.
Original review posted 10/31/24.
I just felt... ready for it to be done. There isn't structure. It's fluffy and feely. There's minimal scripture so it's the same message driven home repeatedly by personal anecdote. And while I can get behind some emotion driven content, I feel like somewhere along the line, he lost sight of the message and maybe... shared too many personal stories? Give yourself your flowers, sure. He's worked hard to get where he's at. He's welcome to acknowledge his successes because, for him, they truly were where he learned and grew through life. I just kind of got bored reading about his escapades.
I think I was looking for something meatier, so the fluff wasn't sitting with me when I read this. It is pretty good in a lot of ways. Just okay for me right now.
I'd rate this a PG.
Original review posted 10/31/24.
March 21, 2018
Thank you to Nelson Books and Bookish for providing me with an ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review.
In Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People, Bob Goff talks about exactly that: the practice of showing Christ-like love to everyone we meet, particularly those we find most difficult. Using anecdotes from his own life experiences as illustrations, Goff reveals simple insights about Jesus, love, faith, and living more like Christ. This is an adorable book with an important, uplifting, and challenging message. I was brought to tears time and again by Goff’s simple message and beautiful stories.
This book was a relatively easy read, as almost each chapter was a short story about something and someone in Goff’s life. He uses each of these tales to draw connections to God, treated like lessons learned and insights discovered. While some of these lessons grew repetitive throughout the book, I found that this did not take away from the book’s overall message. Goff’s stories are super engaging; you can tell they are about real people in real situations (although I’m still in awe over how Bob ended up in some of these places! He does lead a truly extraordinary life…). Several of the individual stories stood out to me personally, and I wouldn’t be surprised if other readers have the same experience. There are certain people and places that each of us can relate to, and this book offers up a variety of potential connections. In each tale, everyone is led back to the same central tenet of the work: Christ-like love for all.
The man telling all of these stories and sharing these insights sounds positively delightful. Goff’s voice is wonderfully accessible. The book reads as though he’s sat down next to you to share his story. He is at times humorous, at others deadly serious, and the emotion he’s experiencing is carried clearly in the text. I admit that at times I found him leaning toward stock proverbs (things that sound profound, but, when you get right down to it, are pretty basic truths.). These tended to appear in the more repetitive passages of the book. These at times felt cliche and took away from the rest of the chapter. However, as a whole, the style of writing in this book was superb.
In Everybody, Always, I found the message to be both simple and necessary. This book isn’t hiding a complicated directive, although the call to action isn’t easy. Goff sticks to his original thesis throughout the entire book: love everybody, always, and it’s as simple as that. This book may find itself shelved near texts of complicated theology, but I think it needs to be distinguished from those. Goff spends more time looking at Christ manifested in humanity than dissecting Bible verses. (Both of these practices are important for spiritual growth, of course. But I was pleased to find that this book fell on the “people” side of this distinction.)
This book isn’t an apologetic to the rest of the world, addressing topics on which Christians have opinions and beliefs. Instead, Goff is talking to Christ-followers, challenging them on nearly every page to put aside differences and love the “difficult” people, anyway. This is a voice we as the Church need to hear right now, and I am so happy to see this message entering into the current cultural “fray.”
To speak briefly of the aesthetics of this book, I find the cover to be absolutely gorgeous. It’s eye-catching and bright, which would make me want to pull it off the shelf in a bookstore or library.
I am definitely going to be recommending this book. My copy is actually already on its way to my mom. I think it would be an excellent read for fellow Christ-followers. It’s a good, quick read that should be a must for anyone pursuing an understanding of God’s love for the world. It’s a great book for people at different stages in their spiritual journeys and relationships with God, but in particular those who are seeking a simplified faith. As Bob says himself, “We don’t need to make faith easier, because it’s not; we need to make it simpler, because it is.”
I give a happy five stars to Everybody, Always.
In Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People, Bob Goff talks about exactly that: the practice of showing Christ-like love to everyone we meet, particularly those we find most difficult. Using anecdotes from his own life experiences as illustrations, Goff reveals simple insights about Jesus, love, faith, and living more like Christ. This is an adorable book with an important, uplifting, and challenging message. I was brought to tears time and again by Goff’s simple message and beautiful stories.
This book was a relatively easy read, as almost each chapter was a short story about something and someone in Goff’s life. He uses each of these tales to draw connections to God, treated like lessons learned and insights discovered. While some of these lessons grew repetitive throughout the book, I found that this did not take away from the book’s overall message. Goff’s stories are super engaging; you can tell they are about real people in real situations (although I’m still in awe over how Bob ended up in some of these places! He does lead a truly extraordinary life…). Several of the individual stories stood out to me personally, and I wouldn’t be surprised if other readers have the same experience. There are certain people and places that each of us can relate to, and this book offers up a variety of potential connections. In each tale, everyone is led back to the same central tenet of the work: Christ-like love for all.
The man telling all of these stories and sharing these insights sounds positively delightful. Goff’s voice is wonderfully accessible. The book reads as though he’s sat down next to you to share his story. He is at times humorous, at others deadly serious, and the emotion he’s experiencing is carried clearly in the text. I admit that at times I found him leaning toward stock proverbs (things that sound profound, but, when you get right down to it, are pretty basic truths.). These tended to appear in the more repetitive passages of the book. These at times felt cliche and took away from the rest of the chapter. However, as a whole, the style of writing in this book was superb.
In Everybody, Always, I found the message to be both simple and necessary. This book isn’t hiding a complicated directive, although the call to action isn’t easy. Goff sticks to his original thesis throughout the entire book: love everybody, always, and it’s as simple as that. This book may find itself shelved near texts of complicated theology, but I think it needs to be distinguished from those. Goff spends more time looking at Christ manifested in humanity than dissecting Bible verses. (Both of these practices are important for spiritual growth, of course. But I was pleased to find that this book fell on the “people” side of this distinction.)
This book isn’t an apologetic to the rest of the world, addressing topics on which Christians have opinions and beliefs. Instead, Goff is talking to Christ-followers, challenging them on nearly every page to put aside differences and love the “difficult” people, anyway. This is a voice we as the Church need to hear right now, and I am so happy to see this message entering into the current cultural “fray.”
To speak briefly of the aesthetics of this book, I find the cover to be absolutely gorgeous. It’s eye-catching and bright, which would make me want to pull it off the shelf in a bookstore or library.
I am definitely going to be recommending this book. My copy is actually already on its way to my mom. I think it would be an excellent read for fellow Christ-followers. It’s a good, quick read that should be a must for anyone pursuing an understanding of God’s love for the world. It’s a great book for people at different stages in their spiritual journeys and relationships with God, but in particular those who are seeking a simplified faith. As Bob says himself, “We don’t need to make faith easier, because it’s not; we need to make it simpler, because it is.”
I give a happy five stars to Everybody, Always.
March 6, 2018
Bob's writing is so wonderful. He seems like he could be a best friend to everyone. He doesn't just admonish us to go out and love everyone-he gives examples and shows us how to go out and put it into practice with even our most difficult neighbors!
I am reviewing the first five chapters of the book that I received from the publisher.
I am reviewing the first five chapters of the book that I received from the publisher.
March 3, 2020
He writes like I want to write when I grow up: succinct everyday illustration pivoting directly to easy-to-grasp yet penetrating Scriptural point. His chapters are short and beaded together to give an overall narrative effect. There is engaging and gracious, and then there is the author who, I kid you not, puts his cell phone number in the back of the book.
May 13, 2019
The book has a great message, but I felt like I was reading chapter after chapter of inspirational Instagram captions for Christian's selfies. Over and over and over for 228 pages.
February 14, 2023
It's simple, Bob Goff says; God wants us to become love. And that's all we have to do.
This book was recommended to me and now I'm recommending it to everyone I know.
Here are some of my favorite parts. There are many, many more. And you must read the story about the witch doctors. You must.
"Jesus talked to His friends a lot about how we should identify ourselves. He said it wouldn’t be what we said we believed or all the good we hoped to do someday. Nope, He said we would identify ourselves simply by how we loved people. It’s tempting to think there is more to it, but there’s not."
“It’s given me a lot of comfort knowing we’re all rough drafts of the people we’re still becoming.”
“If you want to become love, stop just agreeing with Jesus. Go call someone right now. Lift them up in ways they can’t lift themselves. Send them a text message and say you’re sorry. I know they don’t deserve it. You didn’t either. Don’t put a toe in the water with your love; grab your knees and do a cannonball. Move from the bleachers to the field and you won’t ever be the same. Don’t just love the people who are easy to love; go love the difficult ones. If you do this, Jesus said you’d move forward on your journey toward being more like Him. Equally important, as you practice loving everybody, always, what will happen along the way is you’ll no longer be who you used to be. God will turn you into love.”
“These people haven’t tried to save up love like they’re going to need it later; they know we’re rivers, not reservoirs.”
“Sadly, whenever I make my opinions more important than the difficult people God made, I turn the wine back into water.”
“We make loving people a lot more complicated than Jesus did. Every time I try to protect myself by telling somebody about one of my opinions, God whispers to me and asks about my heart. Why are you so afraid? Who are you trying to impress? Am I really so insecure that I surround myself only with people who agree with me? When people are flat wrong, why do I appoint myself the sheriff to straighten them out? Burning down others’ opinions doesn’t make us right. It makes us arsonists.” “That’s our job. It’s always been our job. We’re supposed to just love the people in front of us. We’re the ones who tell them who they are. We don’t need to spend as much time as we do telling people what we think about what they’re doing. Loving people doesn’t mean we need to control their conduct. There’s a big difference between the two. Loving people means caring without an agenda. As soon as we have an agenda, it’s not love anymore. It’s acting like you care to get someone to do what you want or what you think God wants them to do. Do less of that, and people will see a lot less of you and more of Jesus.”
“God wants me to love the ones I don’t understand, to get to know their names. To invite them to do things with me. To go and find the ones everyone has shunned and turned away. To see them as my neighbors even if we are in totally different places. You’ll be able to spot people who are becoming love because they want to build kingdoms, not castles. They fill their lives with people who don’t look like them or act like them or even believe the same things as them. They treat them with love and respect and are more eager to learn from them than presume they have something to teach.”
“It’s hard to believe Jesus loves the van thieves and all the difficult people we’ve met just the same as you and me.”
This book was recommended to me and now I'm recommending it to everyone I know.
Here are some of my favorite parts. There are many, many more. And you must read the story about the witch doctors. You must.
"Jesus talked to His friends a lot about how we should identify ourselves. He said it wouldn’t be what we said we believed or all the good we hoped to do someday. Nope, He said we would identify ourselves simply by how we loved people. It’s tempting to think there is more to it, but there’s not."
“It’s given me a lot of comfort knowing we’re all rough drafts of the people we’re still becoming.”
“If you want to become love, stop just agreeing with Jesus. Go call someone right now. Lift them up in ways they can’t lift themselves. Send them a text message and say you’re sorry. I know they don’t deserve it. You didn’t either. Don’t put a toe in the water with your love; grab your knees and do a cannonball. Move from the bleachers to the field and you won’t ever be the same. Don’t just love the people who are easy to love; go love the difficult ones. If you do this, Jesus said you’d move forward on your journey toward being more like Him. Equally important, as you practice loving everybody, always, what will happen along the way is you’ll no longer be who you used to be. God will turn you into love.”
“These people haven’t tried to save up love like they’re going to need it later; they know we’re rivers, not reservoirs.”
“Sadly, whenever I make my opinions more important than the difficult people God made, I turn the wine back into water.”
“We make loving people a lot more complicated than Jesus did. Every time I try to protect myself by telling somebody about one of my opinions, God whispers to me and asks about my heart. Why are you so afraid? Who are you trying to impress? Am I really so insecure that I surround myself only with people who agree with me? When people are flat wrong, why do I appoint myself the sheriff to straighten them out? Burning down others’ opinions doesn’t make us right. It makes us arsonists.” “That’s our job. It’s always been our job. We’re supposed to just love the people in front of us. We’re the ones who tell them who they are. We don’t need to spend as much time as we do telling people what we think about what they’re doing. Loving people doesn’t mean we need to control their conduct. There’s a big difference between the two. Loving people means caring without an agenda. As soon as we have an agenda, it’s not love anymore. It’s acting like you care to get someone to do what you want or what you think God wants them to do. Do less of that, and people will see a lot less of you and more of Jesus.”
“God wants me to love the ones I don’t understand, to get to know their names. To invite them to do things with me. To go and find the ones everyone has shunned and turned away. To see them as my neighbors even if we are in totally different places. You’ll be able to spot people who are becoming love because they want to build kingdoms, not castles. They fill their lives with people who don’t look like them or act like them or even believe the same things as them. They treat them with love and respect and are more eager to learn from them than presume they have something to teach.”
“It’s hard to believe Jesus loves the van thieves and all the difficult people we’ve met just the same as you and me.”
March 26, 2020
I loved, loved, loved this book....and I don't think I could have read this at a better time with all of the craziness of the COVID-19 restrictions in place. This was the perfect book for my day.
I have a daughter who has been stuck in Peru for the last two weeks. And the Peruvian government won't let her leave until they lift the quarantine. However, other countries have been allowed to swoop in and cart their citizens off...anyways, what I'm getting at is this, it has been stressful and I'm getting a little bitter and cynical. And this book helped me to feel calm and it helped me remember what is really important.
This book contained a strong emphasis on Christianity and I loved that part too. This is 5 stars because there were so many "take-aways" and I feel like I need to read it again because I couldn't remember them all. I also loved the title and how it fit with the overall message in this one.
I have a daughter who has been stuck in Peru for the last two weeks. And the Peruvian government won't let her leave until they lift the quarantine. However, other countries have been allowed to swoop in and cart their citizens off...anyways, what I'm getting at is this, it has been stressful and I'm getting a little bitter and cynical. And this book helped me to feel calm and it helped me remember what is really important.
This book contained a strong emphasis on Christianity and I loved that part too. This is 5 stars because there were so many "take-aways" and I feel like I need to read it again because I couldn't remember them all. I also loved the title and how it fit with the overall message in this one.
March 10, 2018
I am rating this book based on the first five chapter that were sent to me in exchange for an honest review.
This book follows in the same footsteps of Bob’s first book, Love does. It gives us details of events in his life and he uses those stories to illustrate a point. In his first book, Bob used his crazy cool stories to illustrate one point or message, love does. This book is no different, the stories are centred on loving people. In the first five chapters, in my opinion, the message was “Everybody”. Everybody is welcome. Everybody is deserving. Everybody should be included. It was about fully engaging with others in a way that expects nothing. He presents the idea that life is not complicated but really very simple. Life is about loving. It’s about everyone.
This book follows in the same footsteps of Bob’s first book, Love does. It gives us details of events in his life and he uses those stories to illustrate a point. In his first book, Bob used his crazy cool stories to illustrate one point or message, love does. This book is no different, the stories are centred on loving people. In the first five chapters, in my opinion, the message was “Everybody”. Everybody is welcome. Everybody is deserving. Everybody should be included. It was about fully engaging with others in a way that expects nothing. He presents the idea that life is not complicated but really very simple. Life is about loving. It’s about everyone.
January 10, 2021
I did have a few take-aways from this book, but there were a lot of eye-rolling parts too. I just didn't trust the author, who used a ton of hyperbole in his writing. I also felt that while his anecdotes were quite interesting, they weren't very relatable to the average person.
January 6, 2020
Ouch, this book stepped on my toes in a big way. I pray that in 2020 I can show Jesus to everyone I come in contact with.
February 3, 2021
I honestly have no idea how to rate this. Hopefully I will come to a conclusion by the end of this.
(I decided on 2.5 stars. Just in case you don't want to read this whole review.)
So to start off, I should let you know that I probably wouldn't have just picked this book up. It does have a pretty cover, and the title is definitely something that is intriguing enough, but it's not the type of nonfiction I usually read. However, at my high school graduation party, I asked people to give me a book that I should read before I finished college, and somebody wrote down this one. So here we are.
What you should know going into this book that I did not know: this is a Christian book. It is a book about Christianity and Jesus and God.
Why do I mention this? Because I was completely thrown by this. It's not that I'm necessarily against Christian books, but there was absolutely zero indication on the cover and in the blurb that Christianity was a main focus of this book. And it really is. I swear to God, there were portions where Jesus was written in every single sentence. I can't really be mad at Goff personally for this since he wasn't in charge of the marketing, but I can be mad at the publisher. Like, honestly how can you have an entire book about Christianity and not indicate to potential readers that's what it is about? I just really would have appreciated a heads up. Shame on whoever wrote the summary. And whoever decided on the subtitle since that is definitely not an accurate description.
What I was expecting from the title and the description was something on the self-help side of things, all about love and open-mindedness. I expected things such as strategies for dealing with "setbacks and difficult people." I have to say, when I thought of "difficult people" I thought much more about like, co-workers you find annoying. Not like, witch doctors in Uganda who sacrifice children. Like, I'm just saying, not super relatable to my life personally.
This is something that a LOT of other reviewers have mentioned, but basically Goff's anecdotes were frequently completely unrelatable for regular people. Stuff like flying planes. He was clearly writing from a place of privilege. You can go read some other low reviews to hear more about this, but the class privilege was super insane.
What bothered me in terms of his privilege more than that was his lack of specificity of audience. He was a privileged white Christian male, writing to mostly other privileged white Christians. But he doesn't explicitly explain that, and seems to forget that some of the things he says can be interpreted differently by who is reading it. For example, if you say something like "you should even love people who make you uncomfortable," (this is not a direct quote, I'm generalizing) the meaning changes based on the audience. With a conservative Christian audience, it might read like "you should accept and love gay people." But what if a marginalized person is reading it? Who makes gay people uncomfortable? Homophobes. Are we going to tell queer people they need to love and accept homophobes? Maybe some queer people are okay with that idea, that they should unconditionally love everyone, including homophobes. But what about the ones that are lynching people? I don't know. I'm just not sure how far that love is supposed to go. I don't think a cishet person is allowed to have a say in that.
Anyway, my point is that part of Goff's privilege means he totally forgot that anyone other than conservative white Christians might be reading, and because of that, some things don't come off so well. I think the book would have been more powerful if, instead of being super broad, he had just come out and been more specific. It would have been better if he had made it clear who he was talking to, and if he had been more specific in his demands, like "the Christian community should be loving and accepting marginalized groups, including queer and nonwhite people."
Another thing that is more about him personally that came from his place of privilege was his anecdotes that demonstrated a complete ignorance of consent. In one anecdote, he mentions a tradition of "laying hands" on someone who is hurting. So at the end of the service, without asking first, he decided to initiate them crowd-surfing his friend. Now, maybe he knows his friend well enough to know it would be okay. But personally, I would really not appreciate if someone spontaneously decided that I should crowd-surf and initiating it happening without actually asking me first. The other one was where he bought a house without consulting his wife. Who does that? That's so inappropriate to make that kind of decision without consulting your spouse first.
And then there's just the deal that it's so westernized. He talks about climbing Kilimanjaro (which, again, privilege) and for some reason feels the need to compare the height to an American mountain? First off, number of football fields would have made more sense to the average person anyway. Second off, I don't see how it was necessary. Then there's just the whole deal where he talks about some messed up things in other (mostly third world) countries without ever really acknowledging any of the messed up things in America. So it was really perpetuating western views. Yeah, the privilege was strong in this one.
Moving on! The book was fairly readable, which I was grateful for, but it started to get a bit much by the end. Every chapter basically read like a sermon, with an anecdote followed by somehow connecting that anecdote to Jesus. By the time I hit the 80% mark, I was pretty done.
Okay, now to get personal. I guess I do have to give some credit to this book because it really helped me notice how much I am just...not really religious. I was raised Catholic, but haven't identified as such in a looong time for obvious reasons regarding the church as a whole. But I've always still carried around this assumption that I was still kind of Christian. But reading all this stuff about God and Jesus made me feel absolutely nothing. Like, I do actually agree with some of the central themes and messages of the book about doing your best to love everybody, always (hah), and doing good in the world without needing to receive credit for it, and that you will never be perfect but you just have to keep trying your best. But I don't believe that I should do any of those things because it will bring me closer to Jesus. I just think I should be doing them because it will make the world a better place, and as a human in the world it's my moral imperative to try to make the world a little better as best I can. Like, I just think it's the right thing to do, but my reasoning really doesn't trace back to religion in any way.
So anyway, thanks to Bob Goff for helping me realize I'm not religious!
Now that I've written that whole thing, do I have a rating? I'm thinking 2.5 stars. Might have been higher if I was Christian and was actually interested in what he had to say about Jesus, but alas, I am now decidedly not.
Maybe I'll send this to my grandparents though...it would be a good payback for them getting me "From the Pit to the Pulpit" for my high school graduation.
(I decided on 2.5 stars. Just in case you don't want to read this whole review.)
So to start off, I should let you know that I probably wouldn't have just picked this book up. It does have a pretty cover, and the title is definitely something that is intriguing enough, but it's not the type of nonfiction I usually read. However, at my high school graduation party, I asked people to give me a book that I should read before I finished college, and somebody wrote down this one. So here we are.
What you should know going into this book that I did not know: this is a Christian book. It is a book about Christianity and Jesus and God.
Why do I mention this? Because I was completely thrown by this. It's not that I'm necessarily against Christian books, but there was absolutely zero indication on the cover and in the blurb that Christianity was a main focus of this book. And it really is. I swear to God, there were portions where Jesus was written in every single sentence. I can't really be mad at Goff personally for this since he wasn't in charge of the marketing, but I can be mad at the publisher. Like, honestly how can you have an entire book about Christianity and not indicate to potential readers that's what it is about? I just really would have appreciated a heads up. Shame on whoever wrote the summary. And whoever decided on the subtitle since that is definitely not an accurate description.
What I was expecting from the title and the description was something on the self-help side of things, all about love and open-mindedness. I expected things such as strategies for dealing with "setbacks and difficult people." I have to say, when I thought of "difficult people" I thought much more about like, co-workers you find annoying. Not like, witch doctors in Uganda who sacrifice children. Like, I'm just saying, not super relatable to my life personally.
This is something that a LOT of other reviewers have mentioned, but basically Goff's anecdotes were frequently completely unrelatable for regular people. Stuff like flying planes. He was clearly writing from a place of privilege. You can go read some other low reviews to hear more about this, but the class privilege was super insane.
What bothered me in terms of his privilege more than that was his lack of specificity of audience. He was a privileged white Christian male, writing to mostly other privileged white Christians. But he doesn't explicitly explain that, and seems to forget that some of the things he says can be interpreted differently by who is reading it. For example, if you say something like "you should even love people who make you uncomfortable," (this is not a direct quote, I'm generalizing) the meaning changes based on the audience. With a conservative Christian audience, it might read like "you should accept and love gay people." But what if a marginalized person is reading it? Who makes gay people uncomfortable? Homophobes. Are we going to tell queer people they need to love and accept homophobes? Maybe some queer people are okay with that idea, that they should unconditionally love everyone, including homophobes. But what about the ones that are lynching people? I don't know. I'm just not sure how far that love is supposed to go. I don't think a cishet person is allowed to have a say in that.
Anyway, my point is that part of Goff's privilege means he totally forgot that anyone other than conservative white Christians might be reading, and because of that, some things don't come off so well. I think the book would have been more powerful if, instead of being super broad, he had just come out and been more specific. It would have been better if he had made it clear who he was talking to, and if he had been more specific in his demands, like "the Christian community should be loving and accepting marginalized groups, including queer and nonwhite people."
Another thing that is more about him personally that came from his place of privilege was his anecdotes that demonstrated a complete ignorance of consent. In one anecdote, he mentions a tradition of "laying hands" on someone who is hurting. So at the end of the service, without asking first, he decided to initiate them crowd-surfing his friend. Now, maybe he knows his friend well enough to know it would be okay. But personally, I would really not appreciate if someone spontaneously decided that I should crowd-surf and initiating it happening without actually asking me first. The other one was where he bought a house without consulting his wife. Who does that? That's so inappropriate to make that kind of decision without consulting your spouse first.
And then there's just the deal that it's so westernized. He talks about climbing Kilimanjaro (which, again, privilege) and for some reason feels the need to compare the height to an American mountain? First off, number of football fields would have made more sense to the average person anyway. Second off, I don't see how it was necessary. Then there's just the whole deal where he talks about some messed up things in other (mostly third world) countries without ever really acknowledging any of the messed up things in America. So it was really perpetuating western views. Yeah, the privilege was strong in this one.
Moving on! The book was fairly readable, which I was grateful for, but it started to get a bit much by the end. Every chapter basically read like a sermon, with an anecdote followed by somehow connecting that anecdote to Jesus. By the time I hit the 80% mark, I was pretty done.
Okay, now to get personal. I guess I do have to give some credit to this book because it really helped me notice how much I am just...not really religious. I was raised Catholic, but haven't identified as such in a looong time for obvious reasons regarding the church as a whole. But I've always still carried around this assumption that I was still kind of Christian. But reading all this stuff about God and Jesus made me feel absolutely nothing. Like, I do actually agree with some of the central themes and messages of the book about doing your best to love everybody, always (hah), and doing good in the world without needing to receive credit for it, and that you will never be perfect but you just have to keep trying your best. But I don't believe that I should do any of those things because it will bring me closer to Jesus. I just think I should be doing them because it will make the world a better place, and as a human in the world it's my moral imperative to try to make the world a little better as best I can. Like, I just think it's the right thing to do, but my reasoning really doesn't trace back to religion in any way.
So anyway, thanks to Bob Goff for helping me realize I'm not religious!
Now that I've written that whole thing, do I have a rating? I'm thinking 2.5 stars. Might have been higher if I was Christian and was actually interested in what he had to say about Jesus, but alas, I am now decidedly not.
Maybe I'll send this to my grandparents though...it would be a good payback for them getting me "From the Pit to the Pulpit" for my high school graduation.
March 23, 2018
I met Bob Goff in his first book - Love Does. “Met” him is proper, because the book is full of personal stories. Stories that make you laugh out loud - the kind that catch you off guard and coffee shoots out of your mouth and nose. Stories that make you cry - the kind that creep up on you even when you know they are coming and you stop reading and blink because your eyes are filled with tears. Stories that make you change - because they are compelling and easily personalized.
Now Bob has written Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People. I received an advance copy of the first five chapters and this is an open and honest evaluation. I’m excited that the full book will be released in less than a month. I had ordered copies as soon as I learned of its publication. I was impressed and encouraged buy the first five chapters. In this book the author a
Everybody, Always has started off in much the same fashion as Love Does. The message of the book - yes, there is an obvious message - is shared through the author’s personal experience in most cases and through subtitle reference, relating to the experience in others. It’s what you might call an “airplane book”. Short, engaging chapters that you can read and that bring you back because you want to know the rest of the story. In some cases, maybe most, I read them quickly and think about them for days, maybe years. I hope you will too.
I categorize it as a story - certainly the author’s story - but also the reader’s. The story is easy to read, entertaining, occasionally emotional and always compelling; but not always easy to live. This is, in a real sense, a continuation and expansion of Love Does even though it doesn’t require that you read one before the other in order to enjoy and benefit from the book. The author isn’t “preachy” - gratefully - and this isn’t a “self help” book. It’s a book full of motivating examples of how to share the love of God with everybody... always; even those that are frustrating, different and don’t want to be loved.
What I particularly value in this book is the simplicity of the message. Too often followers of Christ have wrapped themselves in cloaks of exacting doctrine and self righteousness, often isolating themselves from the world they scurry to reach. I know - I’ve been there. The Author of that faith never said that the world will see God by what you know. He said that the world will see God because of your love. The author of Everybody, Always gets that message right. He asks the reader to consider what happens when we stop avoiding difficult people and simply love everyone?
In his words, “We don’t need to make faith easier, because it’s not; we need to make it simpler, because it is.”
It’s a joy to recommend Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People.
Now Bob has written Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People. I received an advance copy of the first five chapters and this is an open and honest evaluation. I’m excited that the full book will be released in less than a month. I had ordered copies as soon as I learned of its publication. I was impressed and encouraged buy the first five chapters. In this book the author a
Everybody, Always has started off in much the same fashion as Love Does. The message of the book - yes, there is an obvious message - is shared through the author’s personal experience in most cases and through subtitle reference, relating to the experience in others. It’s what you might call an “airplane book”. Short, engaging chapters that you can read and that bring you back because you want to know the rest of the story. In some cases, maybe most, I read them quickly and think about them for days, maybe years. I hope you will too.
I categorize it as a story - certainly the author’s story - but also the reader’s. The story is easy to read, entertaining, occasionally emotional and always compelling; but not always easy to live. This is, in a real sense, a continuation and expansion of Love Does even though it doesn’t require that you read one before the other in order to enjoy and benefit from the book. The author isn’t “preachy” - gratefully - and this isn’t a “self help” book. It’s a book full of motivating examples of how to share the love of God with everybody... always; even those that are frustrating, different and don’t want to be loved.
What I particularly value in this book is the simplicity of the message. Too often followers of Christ have wrapped themselves in cloaks of exacting doctrine and self righteousness, often isolating themselves from the world they scurry to reach. I know - I’ve been there. The Author of that faith never said that the world will see God by what you know. He said that the world will see God because of your love. The author of Everybody, Always gets that message right. He asks the reader to consider what happens when we stop avoiding difficult people and simply love everyone?
In his words, “We don’t need to make faith easier, because it’s not; we need to make it simpler, because it is.”
It’s a joy to recommend Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People.
July 30, 2024
What a beautiful book about loving everybody, always! Bob’s stories are heartfelt and sweet in a way that’s inspiring me to find new ways to love more openly and more deeply than what I allow myself to be capable of. I wouldn’t recommend this book as a book study (it’s a lot of personal anecdotes and not a lot of discussion pieces) but as a personal read for personal growth, it’s an incredible and gentle invitation into becoming Jesus.
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June 5, 2020This follow up to Bob Goff's New York Times bestseller "Love Does" is inspiring. "Everybody Always" is absolutely packed full of memorable quotes and irresistible life challenges. Truly an unforgettable book!
Goff's basic challenge is as simple as it is seemingly impossible—love everybody, always. He suggests that we start by loving creepy people. What?! He suggests that we make friends 3 minutes at a time.
What if we really did try loving people in 30 second increments, as he suggests? What if we weren't afraid to try?
Goff's personal stories are funny and touching and transparent. They draw your heart to go where you might be afraid to go, but really want to try. There is no hint of preachiness or guilt trips, just the moving stories of a humble man who is deeply committed to loving a little better every day and not being afraid.
Goff writes from a Christian perspective, but please don't miss out on this gem if you see the world differently. More love is more than okay with everybody, always, isn't it? - Kathleen G.
Goff's basic challenge is as simple as it is seemingly impossible—love everybody, always. He suggests that we start by loving creepy people. What?! He suggests that we make friends 3 minutes at a time.
What if we really did try loving people in 30 second increments, as he suggests? What if we weren't afraid to try?
Goff's personal stories are funny and touching and transparent. They draw your heart to go where you might be afraid to go, but really want to try. There is no hint of preachiness or guilt trips, just the moving stories of a humble man who is deeply committed to loving a little better every day and not being afraid.
Goff writes from a Christian perspective, but please don't miss out on this gem if you see the world differently. More love is more than okay with everybody, always, isn't it? - Kathleen G.
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