NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • You can choose hope in the midst of chaos. The visionary behind the million-strong IF:Gathering challenges you to exercise your God-given power to shift negative thinking patterns and take back control of your thoughts and emotions. “A must-have resource for anyone looking to get control of their thoughts.”—Lysa TerKeurst, #1 New York Times bestselling author and … Times bestselling author and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries
CHRISTIAN BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY COSMOPOLITAN
Are your thoughts holding you captive? I’ll never be good enough. Other people have better lives than I do. God couldn’t really love me. Jennie Allen knows what it’s like to swirl in a spiral of destructive thoughts, but she also knows we don’t have to stay stuck in toxic thinking patterns.
As she discovered in her own life, God built a way for us to escape that downward spiral. Freedom comes when we refuse to be victims to our thoughts and realize we have already been equipped with power from God to fight and win the war for our minds.
In Get Out of Your Head, Jennie inspires and equips us to transform our emotions, our outlook, and even our circumstances by taking control of our thoughts. Our enemy is determined to get in our heads to make us feel helpless, overwhelmed, and incapable of making a difference for the kingdom of God. But when we submit our minds to Christ, the promises and goodness of God flood our lives in remarkable ways.
It starts in your head. And from there, the possibilities are endless.
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Jennie Allen shares a message of love,positive thinking rather than adopting downward spirals of negative thoughts which alter our reality .The writer quotes Dr. Daniel Siegel who tells us what we think is who we become Where attention goes neural connections grow.The author shows us the beauty and healing aspects of replacing our thoughts with compassion rather than hate The author requests we may discern what is the will of God rather than conform to the worlds manner of thinking
Do you ever feel like your thoughts are spiraling out of control? You have one stray thought and then another and before you know it you have spiraled so far down the rabbit trail that you wonder how you got there? Yea, me either If we’re honest, we all have. Jennie Allen has written this book to help us stop spiraling into the pit of toxic thoughts.
Did you know…
The average person has more than thirty thousand thoughts per day. Of those, so many are negative that “according to researchers, the vast majority of the illnesses that plague us today are a direct result of a toxic thought life.”
I don’t want to be part of that statistic and I am thankful for this book as it has so many thought provoking thoughts to help us think…if that makes sense. A point that Jennie makes early in the book is:
The greatest spiritual battle of our generation is being fought between our ears.
With vulnerability and honesty Jennie not only offers help and hope, she adds another element to this book by being real with her struggles. She is not coming at us as someone who has all the answers, but as someone who has been broken and is searching for the answers with us.
I enjoyed this book and the insights that Jennie shared. I appreciated that she always pointed us back to Christ. If you need a good book on dealing with anxiety, depression, frustration, and other toxic thoughts, then you will enjoy this book.
I highly recommend it! Some of the formatting was a bit strange, but the message is so needed, and Jennie makes it so applicable!! Her spiral visual was so helpful, too.
Favorite quotes:
“How we think shapes how we live.” (p. 5)
“Our emotions are a by-product of the way we think.” (p. 8)
“Our brains are full of neural pathways, some shallow and moldable and some grooves dug deep from a lifetime of toxic thoughts. In both cases, God is mighty to save.” (p. 34)
“Jesus is the axis around which all their [the heroes of the faith – and eventually our] thought spirals spin.” (p. 41)
“We are often doing so much for God but barely meeting with Him.” (p. 71)
“The enemy has ensnared us with two little words: ‘What if?’ … But our tool for defeating ‘what if’ is, not surprisingly, found in two words: ‘Because God.’” (p. 109)
“And cynicism and worship cannot coexist.” (p.139)
“Self-importance always self-implodes. Because we weren’t built to live like gods. Yet with all the evidence against it, achievement is still the most popular drug of our generation.” (p. 159)
“We don’t have to like our circumstances, but we can choose to look for the unexpected gifts they may bring.” (p. 182)
“How we practice is how we will play.” (p. 209)
And so many more!
(I received a copy for free from Proverbs31. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions are my own, as was the decision to write this review.)
I have never read a self-help book that teaches you to let go of yourself and hold onto God until I picked up Get Out of Your Head! This book was a breath of fresh air because not only does it encourage believers to stop settling for their feelings and ailments, but it provides incredible tools to take our thoughts captive and make our minds submit to the Spirit! I feel as though I have gone on a spiritual pilgrimage after reading Get Out of Your Head. The content perfectly aligned with where I’m at in my life, and Jennie Allen’s wisdom really inspired me to draw closer to the Father, no longer allowing myself to listen to my flesh when it tells me that it’s okay to procrastinate and lose control of my emotions!
Get Out of Your Head is unlike any book I have read! Though it is categorized as a self-help book, it does not contain content that will make your flesh feel better; rather, it provides your soul with real, nutritional food that will replenish your mind, body and spirit while pointing everything back to the Messiah! Touching on topics like anxiety, doubt, depression, loneliness, and more, Jennie Allen taps into the stumbling blocks that keep so many people from learning who their Savior is and getting to know Him on a personal level.
As I read this incredible book (one I cannot rave about enough), I followed along with the Made for This podcast and book club discussion questions. While I didn’t agree with everything Jennie spoke about in the podcasts, the interviews in-between chapters brought the words to life and added more testament to an already rich book. I have already shared Get Out of Your Head with most of my friends and family, and I will continue to encourage others to get a copy so they too can be inspired and build their faith on a stronger foundation.
Satan is using our minds to go to war against our spiritual beings, and so many people are unaware of what is happening! This needs to change. It’s time to take control and stop listening to the world that is telling us that mental illness is normal and we just need to get in-tune with our emotions along with taking medication for the rest of our lives because that’s the best and only way we can hope with the war going on in our minds! NO! Though there are absolutely instances when medication is profitable, the only way to be truly free (and it is possible) is by coming to the Father and finding our identity in Him! You can go through the motions for years, but until we stop trying to control our lives and holding onto what the Bible commands us to lay at God’s feet, we will never find true contentment and purpose! “There is no highway option,” as Vin Diesel says in The Pacifier; it’s God or our flesh, which are you going to choose today?
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a pre-release copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are entirely my own!*
This book is one that changed my life. For the first time ever, I bought the hard copy, e-book and audible version of this book. I am not sure that 10 stars would be a high enough rating. My hope is by having all the versions that I can gradually convince my family to read it. I have already started listening with my teen daughter. And I am recommending it to everyone that I know! Thank you so much to NetGalley for letting me read an advanced copy!
So what did I love so much? Jennie Allen combats real life problems with Scripture. While she is clear that at times, people truly do need psychological help, that is not the point of this book. What she wants readers to realize is how to truly turn the Word of God into the sword of the spirit.
First, Jennie explains the reasons why we all spiral into negativity. Charts are included, so we can visualize why we go down the wrong paths. She is honest about her own story. This helps the authenticity of the book because she feels like a fellow traveler rather than an expert.
Issues tackled in the book are ones that cause all of us to struggle. Inferiority. Depression. Selfishness. Pride. Complaining. By explaining the issues, we can then recognize the truth that we need to fight for higher ground. We need God to transform our lives through His power.
Perhaps the best ending to this review is this book’s beginning: “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” Romans 12:2 This means it’s possible.
What I love about this book is that it so desperately needed to be written, and to be written well. Jennie Allen did just that. With depression and anxiety plaguing our culture, we need to know there are practical ways to help shift our thinking away from the downward spiral. Is it a cure all? NO, and I’m so grateful that Jennie clearly outlines that in her text, BUT we can take our thoughts captive and help move them in the right direction. The enemy will use whatever he can to help separate us from what we know, and that can so easily happen in our own though patterns, if we don’t align them with the scriptures. Perhaps one of my favorite things about this book wasn’t even the subject matter itself, but how genuinely Jennie presents it. She is so honest, warm, and empathic while speaking deep truth. She has such a gift!
I was given an early copy of this manuscript through NetGalley for my honest review. I enjoyed it so much that I bought it. All opinions expressed are my own.
Get out of Your Head is a much needed book in this day and age in our society. Jennie Allen does an excellent job dealing with the topic of our thought life and how those thoughts play out in things like anxiety and depression. Mental and emotional health have been such taboo topics to talk about and write about in the past so I appreciate her venturing into those areas. I was grateful for her transparency about her own battles with toxic thoughts and her practical advice to battling the toxic thoughts in our own lives.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Net Galley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
I received an advance digital version of this book for my honest review.
So honestly, I can’t say enough good things about this book. It reaches to the heart of our struggles in life, what we believe, how it affects our behavior and relationships, and how to shift our thinking. We have a choice: will we listen to the negative thoughts or set our thoughts on the Word of God? All of us are dealing with our thoughts but only Christ-followers know real truth to renew their minds and Jennie Allen takes us on a journey through dealing with those thoughts that Satan would have us believe. They can’t live in the light of truth. If you have read, C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, you may see a parallel with how Jennie Allen identifies the battle.
I could fill pages with all the parts of the book that I highlighted, but for me, right now, the pivotal chapter was chapter 9—Lifelines. Our culture seems to isolate us if we are struggling and that may be the least healthy thing we can do. Years ago I remember talking to another woman about why I hadn’t seen her for a while in church. She told me she hadn’t be there because she hadn’t been doing well. That seems just the opposite of what should happen in the church. We can’t do it alone and if we try that’s just when the enemy attacks us! We are told by culture that we are strong and independent but in reality we need connection. Jennie Allen is the founder and visionary behind IF: Gathering which is an organization that connects women to God through His Word, and to each other. This is her best book to date. She also hosts an exceptional podcast titled, “Made For This.”
Do yourself a favor, get healthier thoughts, read this book…better yet, read this book with a group of friends. Take a risk, get out of your head!
Get Out of Your Head is an informative and eye opening read on your thought life. The book is broken down into 3 parts -Part 1 All the Thoughts, Part 2 Taking Down The Enemies of Our Minds, and Part 3 Thinking as Jesus Thinks.
Jennie takes us from recognizing the feeling or root behind our thoughts to making a choice and changing out thoughts using God’s Word and Truths.
In Part 2 of the book she details several choices we can make for example- I choose to be still with God and I choose to Seek the Good of Others to stop the downward spiral of our negative/wayward thoughts. Jennie is open and honest about her struggle with anxiety and her thought life. The book has diagrams showing how a thought cam spiral out of control and also what a difference choosing to catch and change our thoughts in a positive way can make in our behavior and attitude. As this is an area I struggle in, along with anxiety and depression I found this book useful and will be rereading it and applying the principles in my life. I recommend this book for everyone especially people who struggle with self-defeating thoughts, anxiety, depression, or other negative thoughts in life. I received an advanced copy of this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Jennie has brought a voice that women (and men) have been craving to hear – one that speaks louder than the voices of negativity, anxiety and fear. The battle we fight in our daily lives is real and He now has openheartedly offered the opportunity for intentional, focused personal growth in overcoming strongholds. Get Out of Your Head is the book that we have been praying for, a gift from God for those seeking hope and a better way to live.