Zip It: The Keep It Shut 40-Day Challenge

Ehman (Keep It Shut), bestselling author and Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker, writes on the challenge of keeping one’s mouth shut so that the few carefully chosen words one does speak will serve to enhance ones life and build up others in the process. Ehman makes her 40 chapters easy to follow; they’re filled with prompts, suggestions, and resources that will facilitate using self-control to speak only in ways that bring help, not hurt, into everyday situations. No matter whether people are angry, tired, irritable, hurt, sad, happy, or joyful, she writes, they are all in control of how they use their voices. Ehman sets biblical guidelines for using one’s thoughts (which necessarily affect one’s words) to the betterment of others. Readers will laugh, cry, and commiserate with her real-life examples of how she successfully (and not so successfully) tamed her tongue at crucial life junctures. Readers will also receive daily nudges to stop before they speak, consider before voicing strong opinions, and learn to make reparations as needed. For Christ-followers looking to harness the power of their words, Ehman is a clear, persuasive guide. (Feb.)