Other than the Bible, the one book I believe everyone in the world should read is “When People are Big and God is small” by Ed Welch. I can honestly say no other book other than the Bible has had a greater impact upon my life.
There are countless things I can say about this book, but let me share just one lesson….
I am a leaking love cup.
The focus of this book is our love of people (self-esteem issues) and why we are so afraid of rejection. Dr. Welch does an excellent job of illustrating this problem by describing us as “love tanks with a leak.” God created us to rely upon Him every day, and part of this was coming to Him for validation (being loved).
Sadly, many of us use others instead of God to fill our leaking love tanks (I prefer the phrase “leaking love cup”). So when people love me (agree with me) I feel good, but when they don’t I become incredibly anxious.
Welch reminds us that our love cup was never really meant to be filled with other people. Instead it was created to be filled by God, so then we can POUR OURSELVES INTO OTHERS instead of demanding they fill our love cup!
I’m so grateful as someone who still struggles with self-esteem issues for books like this that remind me fear of man is simply a tool that draws me closer to God.
Johnhwilburn.org 