The Book

Reneau, Peurifoy M.A. has spent the last thirty-five years studying the many facets of human emotion while counseling people with anxiety disorders and teaching psychology at the college level. In Why Did God Give Us Emotions, he looks at emotions from four different perspectives (subjective, physical, cognitive, and spiritual) and discusses ways we can use our emotional side to understand ourselves better and draw closer to God. Some of the topics addressed in the book are:

• Are some emotions "good" and others "bad"?

• What are the important ways that emotions influence our lives that we're unaware of?

• How do emotions reveal your hidden self?

• What are "taboo" emotions; and how can you stop hiding from them?

• How do your core beliefs influence your emotions?

• What is the role of emotions in your relationship with God?

• How do you manage emotions more effectively?

Each chapter features recommended activities that help the reader apply the ideas in the chapter to daily life. Discussion questions for small group study are also provided along with guidelines for managing emotions more effectively so they glorify God, rather than bring Him disgrace.

What People Are Saying about Why Did God Give Us Emotions?

This is a book that could change your life. If you are struggling with issues that keep you chained to your past or insecurities and you want those chains gone get a copy of this one.

Though Peurifoy holds a master’s in counseling and has studied theology his writing doesn’t feel textbook. Carefully and simply he explains the parts and pieces of our emotions and he helps the reader who wants to be helped wade through the lies and/or misinformation about those emotions.

I recommend this one. Don’t put it on a shelf or buy it for someone else who needs fixing. If it’s not about you and what you need to do to become a whole person, then don’t waste the shelf-space. One note...faith and specifically faith in Christ is an important aspect to his teaching. I don’t know that his suggestions will work without willingness to explore Jesus.

– Tidbits on life, food, faith, and writing

Kelly Klepfer

Reneau Peurifoy . . . doesn’t leave us with a ‘knowledge-only” book. He has recommended activities after each chapter that help you apply his principles while looking into your own emotional being, past and present, as well as God’s perspective.

His book also contains “discussion questions for small group study, provided along with guidelines for managing emotions more effectively so they glorify God, rather than bring Him disgrace.”

I definitely recommend this book as a good resource for anyone suffering from emotional issues, big or small. I am specifically excited that Peurifoy’s book is from a Godly perspective.

A Source for Christian Book Reviews

The most outstanding characteristic of this book is its clarity . . . A thoroughly God-centered work, this guide to emotional well-being guides you step-by-step through the healing process . . . Packed with biblical references and checklists, Why Did God Give Us Emotions? stimulates us to grow, not only inwardly, but also in the relationships that we have with others around us. If you feel emotionally troubled and would love to undergo a spiritual facelift, why not buy a copy of Why Did God Give Us Emotions? It’s the equivalent of hours of therapy (and who among us can afford to pay for other forms of face-to-face counseling these days?).

Book reviews

by Lois Henderson

I have had this book for months. I really didn’t want to read it because I was on emotional overload. I figured that it was a book written for lay people with a feel-good theme. Instead, I found a real tool book, with detailed descriptions on how our emotions are affected by our minds, our body chemistry, and our spiritual condition. Then, the author gives great tools to help take control and win the battle.

In my years of counseling, I have been frustrated with the lack of real resources for people who just needed to figure out how to control their emotions. Finally, we have something to recommend.

Staying Focused

Kim Martinez

I have found it to be a much deeper book that originally expected. Author Reneau Peurifoy gives a complete overview of the different aspects of emotions - physical, spiritual, etc. – while also putting them in the context of Christian beliefs (or misconceptions).

It is this combination that makes this book stand out from the rest. There are many resources that deal with happiness or anxiety or small slices of the emotional spectrum but few of them are written to address such a complete and balanced view of the role God gave emotions to play in our lives, and do so with a balance of medical knowledge and Biblical insight. Peurifoy also provides some good cautions about relying too much on emotions while giving some very practical exercises and examples of where our emotions can be trusted and where they can become a false guide . . . as someone that has struggled with an anxiety disorder in the past, I can only say I wish I’d found this book years ago.

Highly recommend.

Faith . . .  by Val

‘Why Did God Give Us Emotions?’ had my attention right from the preface. If you are looking for a book that actually addresses the issue of emotions from a Biblical perspective you have found it!  ‘Why Did God Give Us Emotions’ is an excellent resource for every Christian’s library.

Empowering Christian Women

Karla Meachem

This is a practical book. It is full of tools to help you evaluate your own emotional responses . . .

Why Did God Give Us Emotions? is clearly written and easy to understand . . . [and] is good for personal growth. People helpers will also find the book useful for deepening their understanding of emotions and for guiding others as they grow spiritually and emotionally. Whether you read it for personal growth or as a resource to help you minister to others, this book will help you understand human emotions and how they are part of the image of Christ in us.

Penny Watkins of Bookpleasures.com

Why a New Edition?

After publishing the first edition, it was used in classes and small groups in churches. Based upon the feedback and use in these groups, the discussion questions have been revised in the new edition making them more effective at generating discussion and promoting personal growth along with a few areas of the text to make it easier to understand.

The money raised in this campaign will fund both the production of the new edition and the promotional campaign that follows.