I have been so deeply challenged that I will need to roll back through my physical copy with several highlighters! I got an advanced reader copy and wanted to highlight a bit of the chapter that challenged me the most!

Chapter 9 was a perfect ending to this book. I know I’m guilty of “pointing out” the injustice and putting no action to it. So while I may need to re-read and highlight, if I don’t put into action the things I’m challenged by, what’s the point?

Growing up in white evangelical spaces, we tend to skip over justice in the way Rich describes in this chapter (this is a broad brush of course, but this has been true in the community I grew up in).

“But being rooted in love is not to be lived out in our private lives; it’s to be demonstrated in the larger, public world we inhabit.”

“This multilayered love is the theological basis for Christian justice. Justice is not something we do after we have “loved God.” Justice is one of the primary ways to love him.”

Justice is easy to talk about when a person kills another. But when it’s systemic: that’s a whole other thing. And while I have certainly been awakened to the systemic nature of the oppression, I haven’t done enough to help counter this with real action. I’ve keyboard warriored some, but without putting feet behind my words, I fear it’s all in vain.

The book was worth it for the last chapter, but there is so much more to it! Rich thoughtfully examines the things in our culture and the Church that needs, if it wants to continue to impact the community and culture at large.

From the amazing foreword by Ann Voskamp, to the lovingly worded chapters that teach us how to be more Good, more Beautfiul, and more Kind, this book will be one you go back and reference as a great reminder. Can’t recommend this book enough!

- 3.5 Stars -

This book is a wonderful read that will make you lean back and think deeply about the way you are living your life. It makes you really reflect on how you love others, practice justice in your own life, what it means and looks like to practice good communication from a place of health and safety. This book not only makes you reflect yourself, but also gives some space for the author, Rich Villodas, to give some examples from his own life, both the good and the bad things. He spoke volumes about what it looks like to be living with/dealing with/working with/struggling through the concept of shame in our daily life. This book is one I would recommend you give a read if you need a more spiritual grounding for yourself.

Thank you, @netgalley and @waterbrookmultnomah for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review! All of the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I am so grateful for the author of this book and how he continues to open himself up to be used for a higher good. I thoroughly enjoyed his freshman debut “The Deeply Formed Life”. Sophomore releases can be hit or miss, but Rich does it again with “Good and Beautiful and Kind” — I was transformed by the messages in this book. The outline really laid out a template for me to reflect on where the fractures and wounds come from in my personal life and how I can overcome them for the betterment of my community and the gritty world around me.

If you are looking for a guide to help you wrestle with your faith when faced with the atrocities of the world all around you, this is the book for you 🙏🏽

I can't give this book any less than 5 stars. Before I even requested this ARC from NetGalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah, I had pre-ordered it and bought it to arrive on my Kindle the minute it comes out; however, I wanted to read it as soon as possible! I have to say here at the beginning that book includes a subject I was looking for last year and could not find: how to be an unanxious presence in a very anxious world. Villodas brings much to the table with Good and Beautiful and Kind, but this learning to be an unanxious or non-anxious presence has to be one of the major reasons for buying this book.

I own and read The Deeply-Formed Life by Villodas so I knew I would appreciate his take on the good and beautiful and kind life. The word "kind" threw me at first because I've grown accustomed to seeing good, and beautiful, and true linked together. The title might also throw other readers who are expecting something different, maybe something light with inspirational tales of wonder. This book is not about feeling good about other people's stories of how they were good, beautiful, and kind. This book is about learning to BE good, beautiful, and kind. Ourselves doing the work, not how to get others to be good, beautiful, and kind. This is for people who want to be transformed from the inside. Villodas is transparent in his examples from his own life. I appreciate the integrity in his writing. Even at the beginning, he gives an example where theologically his church holds to a particular historical view (cue half the crowd happy and the other half upset) followed by how the church followed the command to love in action as Jesus commands (cue first half of crowd now unhappy and the second half happy). Don't miss the wisdom in this book and the chance to grow more like Jesus: good, beautiful, and kind just because you don't agree with every word in the book. I follow an old saying when it comes to reading; Eat the meat but spit out the bones. As for me, I only mildly disagreed with one thing in the entire book.

I am eager for my pre-ordered copy to come through on July 12 so I can actually highlight passages as I re-read it. I read this ARC from June 3 to June 16 and now I know that I also want to purchase the physical book; I'm sure I'll be re-reading this book again and again. Thanks to NetGalley and WaterBook & Multnomah for this ARC.

This is an excellent book that dives beneath surface thinking, taking a deep look at what it means to love others, esteem others, practice justice, and communicate from a grounded perspective. "Good and Beautiful and Kind" is practical, with Rich providing transparent examples of his own life experience and failures. Having lived in Japan for over 43 years, I especially appreciated his discussion around the concept of "shame." I highly recommend you read this book!

Good and Beautiful and Kind, by Rich Villodas, should be required reading for every parent of children of all ages. Additionally, anyone who wants to help make the world a better place, which quite possibly should be everyone, needs to follow Villodas' example. Why can't there be more goodness and kindness in the world? The answer is simple...there can be, we just have to commit to making this a reality. In an age where entitlement and anger and meanness and no empathy nor compassion run rampant on our streets and in our schools and in our communities, it is time to do something about it all. I totally agree that prayer, forgiveness, calmness and humility are the keys to success and should be practiced by everyone. Thank you for such a hopeful and praiseworthy book. Hopefully others will make this their self-help primer of the year.

I really appreciate Rich's honest, thoughtful perspective here. He has so much wisdom to offer in matters of unity despite differences, love in suffering, and an outward focused life. He presents the idea that the root of our sin is essentially that we are bent inward, not outward or upward. And he's not wrong. It's when we're self-obsessed and overly self-focused that we fail to love God and others as we ought.

I especially appreciated the chapter on healthy disagreements. Rich points out that when we fully rest and are secure in God's love, we're free to engage honestly and receive constructive criticism which in turn enables us to love those around us better. Sometimes it's not a deliberate inward curve. Sometimes it's a defense mechanism, a subconscious self-protection. But we can't grow past it or love others fully if we don't deal with the curve.

While I had a bit of a hard time getting off the ground with this book, there's a lot of good meat here for those who are willing to stick with it and dig deep!

A necessary book for the times we are living in. Pastor Villodas helps readers ask themselves how we got to where we are now and how can we reclaim a life of purpose and greatness while being good, beautiful, and kind. A must-read for those who may be experiencing chaos in our everyday life.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was a gentle balm for a fractured world, weaving biblical insight with contemporary and ancient wisdom.

Rich Villodas is one of the most passionate, articulate, wise, and Spirit-led Pastors of our generation. His book “Good and Beautiful and Kind” is a wonderful invitation into contemporary spiritual and psychological formation leading us toward lives filled with more beauty, goodness, kindness, healing, and wholeness. His delicate balance of compassionate challenge, wise leadership, and pastoral encouragement is unmatched. I will recommend his book widely!

Rich Villodas, author the award-winning book, "The Deeply Formed Life" has a new book out called "Good and Beautiful and Kind." In his newest book, Villodas encourages his readers to develop the characteristics of goodness, beauty, and kindness as proof of a life well lived. According to the author, sin is a failure to love. I found this assertion to be controversial but also thought provoking.

This is a good devotional book and it was a quick read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.