One of the neat things about working at Cup of Cool Water is that we come together every week as a staff and talk about the ministry and the youth we serve. We reserve part of that time to read different books to supplement our education (we are always learning something new!) Currently, we are reading a book titled Safe People: How to Find Relationships That Are Good for You and Avoid Those That Aren’t by Henry Cloud and John Townsend.  Though we are only in the first chapter, it has already deepened my understanding of certain behaviors and characteristics that I have seen in either myself or those I know.

I want to share an excerpt from Safe People, hoping that you will take an interest and read along with us.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men –robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. (Luke 18:10-14)

The tax gatherer did not see himself as righteous. Instead, he sought grace humbly, for he knew that only through God’s grace could he be loved and accepted. The Pharisee, however, saw himself as good, and others as bad. He believed—wrongly—that all ‘badness’ was outside himself.” (Cloud and Townsend,1995)

Below is a link to where you can order the book, consider reading along with us!

Safe People – Book

Cloud, Henry and John Townsend(1995). Safe People: How to find Relationships That Are Good for You and Avoid Those That Aren’t. Grand Rapids, Mi: Zondervan.