War of Words, by Paul David Tripp

Paul David Tripp's book, War of Words is a great book. For anyone who is counseling others, working with conflict resolution or just trying to learn more about how our struggle with communication can take a turn, this book is for you.

The tag line for the book is "getting to the heart of your communication struggles." That sums up the whole book in just that short phrase. Why is it that we struggle to communicate? Why is it that our words get us in so much trouble? Why is it that conflict seems to arise out of our words delivered to others? The answer is, we don't understand the power of our words and how they can either help or hurt.

A quote from page 200 in the book summarizes this thought, Tripp writes, "My father was saying, 'Paul, words matter. They will either contribute to a solution or further the difficulty. Speak with caution and care.'" This piece of advice is one that we all need to learn. Paul was trying to decide how to approach fellow employees of a part-time job who were stealing from the employer. He knew it was wrong and he wanted to confront the issue, but his fathers words of advice helped him to stop and think through what he was going to say before he just rambled and ran into trouble.

The book is divided into three sections;

Part One: Talk is Not Cheap, this section is actually a history lessons from the Bible in the power of words. It goes through the power that God has when He speaks to the power that Satan has when he speaks to how humans cause real hurt, pain and alienation with their words.

Part Two: A New Agenda for Our Talk: This section delves into the theory behind the "war of words" and how our relationship with God gives us the power to change and put into action a new way of thinking.

Part Three: Winning the War of Words: This is the practical section of the book.

I loved the way that parts one and three bookend the middle section. It is well thought through ,well written and does a wonderful job of communicating the points that Tripp wants to make.

The heart of the book can be summarized in Part One, Chapter Four, "Idol Words". This chapter gives the nuts and bolts of what Tripp is driving at. You will want to read this chapter a couple of times. Page 58 gives a wonderful definition of what an "idol" is and why our words can become idols.

Overall this book is great. I found this book with my studying towards becoming a "Peacemaker" through Peacemaker Ministries. It is probably one of the best books I have read off their resource list.

I think very Pastor, Elder, Sunday School Teacher, Counselor and lay person would benefit greatly from this book. Read it, mark it up, and best of all form a book club to talk about what you are learning from it, you won't be disappointed.

Enjoy!