A Loving Life: In a World of Broken Relationships

A Loving Life: In a World of Broken Relationships

by Paul E. Miller
A Loving Life: In a World of Broken Relationships

A Loving Life: In a World of Broken Relationships

by Paul E. Miller

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Overview

Loving people is hard sometimes. Here is the help we need to embrace relationship, endure rejection, cultivate community, and reach out to the most unlovable as we discover the power to live a loving life.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781433537325
Publisher: Crossway
Publication date: 01/31/2014
Pages: 176
Sales rank: 535,241
Product dimensions: 11.20(w) x 7.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Paul E. Miller (MDiv, Biblical Seminary) is executive director of seeJesus, a global discipling mission that mentors through seminars, cohorts, and interactive Bible studies. He is the bestselling author of A Praying Life and J-Curve. Paul and his wife, Jill, live in the Philadelphia area and have six children and fifteen grandchildren. Listen to the Seeing Jesus with Paul Miller podcast or learn more at seeJesus.net.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Love-Hate Relationship with Love 11

Part 1 Committed Love

1 Suffering: The Crucible for Love 19

2 Love without an Exit Strategy 24

3 The Lost Art of Lament 28

4 Love Is Not God 35

5 Death: The Center of Love 39

6 Entering a Broken Heart 45

7 Discovering Glory in Love 52

8 Loving against My Feelings 57

Part 2 The Shape of the Journey

9 The Gospel Shape of Love 65

10 Love Lands 72

11 Love Protects 77

12 The World Moves for Love 86

13 Humility: The Path of Love 91

14 Love Creates Community 97

15 Love Invites Resurrection 105

16 Love Burns Its Passport 111

Part 3 Learning to Think in Love

17 Thinking in Love 119

18 Rightly Ordered Love 125

19 Discovering God on the Journey of Love 130

Part 4 Love Wins the Day

20 Wisdom in the Pursuit of Love 141

21 Love Celebrates 147

22 The Legacy of Love 151

23 Love Is Forever 155

Acknowledgments 157

Notes 158

Works Cited 166

General Index 168

Scripture Index 170

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“I’m not exaggerating when I say that this is the most honest, timely, and helpful book I’ve ever read about the costly and exhausting demands of loving well. And at the same time, A Loving Life is the most faithful, alluring, and encouraging presentation of God’s love for us in Jesus I’ve fed on in years. These two themes go hand in hand. Through the biblical story of Ruth, Paul Miller gives us hope, not hype—the freedom to suffer well, stay present, and live expectantly in all of our relationships. Thank you, Paul, for making the gospel more beautiful and believable to me.”
Scotty Smith, Pastor Emeritus, Christ Community Church, Franklin, Tennessee; Teacher in Residence, West End Community Church, Nashville, Tennessee

“Every once in a great while one reads a book that is so profound, so fresh, and so life changing that you can’t get it out of your mind or your heart. A Loving Life is that kind of book. Walk with Paul Miller, Ruth, and Naomi to the place of real love, and you’ll never again settle for a substitute. Read this book, rejoice in it, and give it to everyone you know. They will bless you for giving it to them as I bless Paul Miller for writing it.”
Steve Brown, Host, Key Life radio program; author, Three Free Sins: God Isn't Mad At You 

“Reading this book nourished me deeply. With caring attentiveness especially to often-overlooked ‘modern’ widows and widowers, Paul Miller gently pastors us through the story of two courageous, hesed-embracing single women, Naomi and Ruth. He invites us to embrace the death at the center of covenant love and to learn it as the downstroke of reality—the upstroke of which is ever the grace of surprising resurrection. In Christ, Christians all, and the world, reap the far-reaching blessing of these unlikely benefactresses. And we do again in this little book.”
Esther L. Meek, Professor of Philosophy, Geneva College; author, Loving to Know: Introducing Covenant Epistemology; A Little Manual for Knowing

“The book of Ruth is about hesed, a loyal love, that Ruth shows to Naomi, Boaz shows to Ruth, and, behind the scenes, God demonstrates to his people. Paul Miller not only brilliantly explains the story of Ruth, but also shows how hesed love can transform us and our relationships. I highly recommend this book.”
Tremper Longman III, Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies, Westmont College

“Being married to Joni, a longtime quadriplegic, I know my marriage vows are always in need of polishing. And Paul Miller’s new book fits the bill; I’ve yellow-highlighted nearly every page. A Loving Life reinforces that the best—the only—kind of love is one-way and without an exit strategy. If you are looking to shore up the for-better-or-for-worse, in-sickness-and-in-health promises in your marriage, you couldn’t lay your hands on a better read.”
Ken Tada, Director of Ministry Development, the Joni and Friends International Disability Center

“‘Death is the center of love.’ Miller’s insight comes as he beautifully retells the story of Ruth in terms of the gospel, revealing a path of love more dear and deep than our cultural icons and distractions can create, and more precious than any pursuit of self can dream. Here is love vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, and freeing.”
Bryan Chapell, Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church in America

“The word love is often either a vague sentiment or just another four-letter word. But in Paul Miller’s hands, the quiet, compelling reality emerges. You will witness how love is thoughtful, principled, courageous, enduring, and wise—all the things you know deep down it should be. And even more than those fine things, you will be surprised and delighted at how true love is grounded in God.”
David Powlison, Late Executive Director, Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation

“Paul Miller reminds us with boldness and insight that a relationship with Jesus Christ means journeying with him to the cross, where we most know of the love of God for us. As such, it is the only path to learning to incarnate that love ourselves—and so to dance to the Spirit’s constant rhythm of being loved and loving others.”
Joseph "Skip" Ryan, Minister, Park Cities Presbyterian Church; Moderator, General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America

“I was sure that Paul Miller’s A Praying Life had to be his greatest, but A Loving Life is better. How can we care for others much more than for ourselves? How can we escape from the slippery pit of our ‘feel good’ culture? Keep going through the book of Ruth and discover good and godly ordinary life, and how you can live it in an extraordinary way—the way of love, God’s way.”
D. Clair Davis, Emeritus Professor of Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary

A Loving Life is a worthy successor to Paul Miller’s much-appreciated book on prayer. It is a careful, thorough analysis of the book of Ruth, understanding it as a love story and making good applications to our own experiences and needs for love. Paul here shows not only a deep understanding of God’s Word, but also a rich knowledge of human nature, both in the ancient world and today. He offers biblical responses to many of the misunderstandings and problems we have with love of all kinds. May the Lord give this book a broad readership!”
John M. Frame, Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy Emeritus, Reformed Theological Seminary

“If there is a message the world needs more to hear and to start obeying than the one Paul Miller brings here, I don’t know what it is. Beautifully written and attested by plenty of personal experience, A Loving Life unearths dimensions of the book of Ruth I had never noticed, and will now never forget.”
Andrée Seu Peterson, Senior Writer, World magazine

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