WTML: Everybody Always

Because it’s my blog, and I do what I want on here, I want to share another book with you: Everybody Always by Bob Goff.

The first time I saw Bob speak, I was amazed because he’s the same in real life as he is in his books. He was talking about interacting with difficult people and, in a flourish of profound words and flailing legs, he kicked off his shoes, flinging them into the first row of the audience, leaving him in just his socks. With a huge grin spread across his face, he explained to us that it was incredibly disarming to show up to an argument in your socks. He advised us to adopt this posture when we begin to get angry or a conversation becomes heated.

Because that’s who Bob is.

But I’m not like Bob. I’m not as loving, as whimsical, or as free-spirited as Bob, but I so appreciate what he brings to the world. He cares so deeply for people and he encourages all those he interacts with to do the same. More than that, he makes loving others simple. It’s not a complex formula or even a question to be asked: loving is not optional in Bob’s world. And, that should be the same for every Christian.

In his first book, Love Does, and again in Everybody Always, Bob outlines what love and whimsy look like in his life. This includes the parade they throw in his neighborhood every year because love should be a party. He tells stories of the witch doctors he’s met in Uganda and about the witch doctor program at the Love Does school. His stories are filled with incredible courage, a desire for connection and, of course, a lot of balloons.

I probably threw some of you off by mentioning the witch doctor school, so let me explain. Bob is the honorary consul for the Republic of Uganda (if you want to know the crazy story of how he got that position, you can read about it in Love Does), so when he returns to the nation, it’s a big deal. One day, when he called all the witch doctors together, they mentioned how lonely they were and their lack of literacy. They didn’t know how to read or write. So Bob and his team figured out a way to love even them, by starting a school to teach them to read and write. And, they only use the Bible and Love Does for their curriculum. These men who have done unspeakable things are learning about what love looks like in action and reading about a God who relentlessly loves them.

Talk about love!

While you might not be a dignitary of a government, a best-selling author, or the leader of a large non-profit, you can still love others. I can love others right where I’m at. We all can’t be like Bob, but we can all practice loving those around us.

I encourage you to pick up Love Does and Everybody Always today and begin loving others like Jesus did!

Have you read either of Bob’s books? What was your biggest takeaway?

Do you have a hard time loving people? Why or why not?

Don’t forget! Pick up your copy of His Story: A Devotional on the Character of God today!

Disclosure: some links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.