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What Grieving People Wish You Knew about What Really Helps (and What Really Hurts): about what really helps (and what really hurts) Paperback – September 30, 2016

4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 351 ratings

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We want to say or do something that helps our grieving friend. But what?

When someone we know is grieving, we want to help. But sometimes we stay away or stay silent, afraid that we will do or say the wrong thing, that we will hurt instead of help.

In this straightforward and practical book, Nancy Guthrie provides us with the insight we need to confidently interact with grieving people. Drawing upon the input of hundreds of grieving people, as well as her own experience of grief, Nancy offers specifics on what to say and what not to say, and what to do and what to avoid. Tackling touchy topics like talking about heaven, navigating interactions on social media, and more, this book will equip readers to support those who are grieving with wisdom and love.

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From the Publisher

More Books by Nancy Guthrie from Crossway

Nancy Guthrie teaches the Bible at her home church, Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tennessee, as well as at conferences around the country and internationally, including her Biblical Theology Workshops for Women. She is the host of the Help Me Teach the Bible podcast from the Gospel Coalition and the author of numerous books, including Even Better than Eden and Saints and Scoundrels in the Story of Jesus. She and her husband are cohosts of the GriefShare video series and lead Respite Retreats for couples who have faced the death of a child.

eden blessed grieving saints be still
Even Better than Eden Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation What Grieving People Wish You Knew about What Really Helps (and What Hurts) Saints and Scoundrels in the Story of Jesus Be Still, My Soul: Embracing God's Purpose and Provision in Suffering
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Volume 1 2 3 4 5
10 week Bible Study

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This book is tender, compassionate, clear, honest, gospel-rich, and practical. There is nothing distant and theoretical about it, because it's written out of the deep well of the author's own experience.”
Paul David Tripp, author, New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional

“Most of us struggle with what to say and how to help when interacting with a person who is grieving. This wonderful book will help you be more comfortable ministering after a death because you’ll better understand what your family member or friend needs most. I read this book on an airplane, headed for a funeral. I learned helpful things that I was able to use immediately.”
Steve Grissom, Founder, GriefShare

“In the aftermath of deep loss, grievers struggle to articulate what is helpful. These honest and practical suggestions will equip tenderhearted people to come alongside us as we grieve.”
Kay Warren, Cofounder, Saddleback Church; international speaker; best-selling author, Choose Joy

“Someday, someone close to each of us will die. During that difficult time, the right words can comfort us and point us to Christ. What Grieving People Wish You Knew offers great counsel from those who went through the dark days of a loved one’s death. For friends of the grieving, this book can help you to offer comfort. In this book are examples of healing words that grievers need to hear―told by those who longed to hear them. These stories from those of us who have grieved, and are still grieving, will give believers the confidence to come and sit with us on the mourning bench.”
Mark Green, President, The White Horse Inn

What Grieving People Wish You Knew is a timely and priceless resource for men and women who are compelled to live out the Bible’s directive to 'weep with those who weep' but feel helpless to do so. This book is profoundly practical, and I am personally grateful to have it as a resource to share with so many who desire to love the grieving well.”
Raechel Myers, Cofounder, She Reads Truth

“Nancy Guthrie writes pointedly about what hurts when we’re trying to minister to hurting people. We can all learn much from poor examples―from Job’s miserable comforters. What Grieving People Wish You Knew provides an A+ lesson plan in what not to say and do as comforters. Of course, Nancy does not stop there, for she also writes poignantly about Christlike comfort. With wisdom and compassion, Nancy weaves Scripture, her story, and the stories of scores of grievers to encourage, empower, and equip us to esteem grief and to care like Christ as we minister to those who grieve.”
Bob Kellemen, Academic Dean and Professor of Biblical Counseling, Faith Bible Seminary; author, Grief: Walking with Jesus

“Grief persists as a constant presence in a fallen world. And as common as grief is, so is the silence of friends or family members who aren't quite sure how to help. Nancy Guthrie's What Grieving People Wish You Knew enters into this silent void and offers the clear and practical voice of experience and wisdom. In a unique and captivating way, Guthrie unleashes the testimonies of numerous individuals who have recently experienced grief. Their words, along with Guthrie's synthesis, allows the reader to know what truly helps and what truly hurts as we seek to minister to our grief-stricken loved ones. Do you want to be a good friend to those grieving around you? Then this is the book for you.”
Jason Helopoulos, Senior Pastor, University Reformed Church, East Lansing, Michigan; author, Covenantal Baptism; The New Pastor’s Handbook; and The Promise

About the Author

Nancy Guthrie teaches the Bible at her home church, Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tennessee, as well as at conferences around the country and internationally, including her Biblical Theology Workshop for Women. She is the author of numerous books and the host of the Help Me Teach the Bible podcast with the Gospel Coalition. She and her husband founded Respite Retreats for couples who have faced the death of a child, and they are cohosts of the GriefShare video series. 

Bible teacher; author, Even Better than Eden: Nine Ways the Bible’s Story Changes Everything about Your Story

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1433552353
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crossway; 1st edition (September 30, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781433552359
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1433552359
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.48 x 7.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 351 ratings

About the author

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Nancy Guthrie
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“God has been preparing me my whole life for teaching his Word,” says Nancy Guthrie. “He has blessed me with so many sound Bible teachers to sit under—from my days as a college student in Bible classes, to amazing Sunday School teachers, Bible Study Fellowship teaching leaders, gifted pastors at my church, Cornerstone Presbyterian Church —as well as teachers and preachers from all over the world that I listen to and learn from online.”

But Nancy says the most important thing God has given her is a love for him and for his Word. “To me, Gods Word is a treasure to be mined,” she says. “The deeper I go, the more I see its wisdom, the more it authenticates itself, the more it reveals to me the beauty of God’s plan to redeem all things through Christ.”

Nancy’s life experience has also significantly affected her teaching. “I’ve had to dig into God’s Word in search of answers to hard questions about God and how he works, and I find that my readers or listeners usually have the same struggles and questions. And while I share openly the deep hurts in my life, I also like to laugh. I often have people who hear me teach say that I'm very real. That’s what I want to be."

Nancy and her husband, David, have a thirty-year-old son, Matt, who works with his dad creating kids musicals for the church through Little Big Stuff Music. They also have a daughter, Hope, and a son, Gabriel, who were born with a rare genetic disorder called Zellweger Syndrome and each lived six months.

Nancy offered many of the lessons she learned from the loss of two of their children in her first book, Holding On to Hope: A Pathway of Suffering to the Heart of God which was published in 2002. Since then, Nancy has continued to write books that reflect her compassion for hurting people and her passion for applying God's Word to real life. Her desire to grow in her understanding of God's Word has prompted her to pursue graduate work in theological studies via Reformed Theological Seminary Global. She and her husband, David, host weekend Respite Retreats for couples who have faced the death of a child. She speaks regularly at conferences nationally and internationally, and is a regular contributor to The Gospel Coalition including hosting the Help Me Teach the Bible podcast.

Most recently, Nancy has been focused on her mission to infiltrate women’s Bible study in the local church with biblical theology. “I regularly have women who have worked their way through all five of my Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament Bible Study series tell me that those studies helped them to see connections in the Bible they had never seen before. And that thrills me,” says Nancy. She wrote Even Better Than Eden to take women a step further into understanding some of the major themes than run from Genesis to Revelation in the Bible. And in the Biblical Theology Workshops for Women she is now offering around the country and internationally, she is training women how to trace these themes for themselves. “The workshops are energetic and fun and women leave telling me that their minds are spinning with all they’ve learned and their hearts are warmed by seeing Christ in new ways. Nothing could make me happier.”

Nancy and her husband, David, make their home in Nashville, Tennessee where, according to Nancy, life is less about professional pursuits than about the ordinary aspects of being a wife, mother, friend, and follower of Jesus, with clothes to wash, e-mails to answer, and a friend to listen to.

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
351 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2023
I soaked in every page of this book with its practical, real-life advice. Guthrie did a fantastic job of weaving both personal stories and perspectives from people all around the world throughout the book. Loved it. Highly recommend.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2023
Guthrie gives very practical advice backed by biblical teaching and honest compassion for those who grieve. I learned a lot from this book.
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2023
Great read. Good information. Love it! Love this author and would purchase more from her. Great shipping. No damages. Would purchase from this seller again.
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2019
This is a very encouraging, practical and helpful book. The Scripture is handled well and grace is extended to those who desire to walk well with another through suffering. This will be the case for us all because this world is not our home nor is it perfect.
We recently lost a child in our Sunday School class and this death has been a catalyst for my heart to learn more. I would suggest that this should be required reading for anyone who is in ministry. Nancy Guthrie, thank you for sharing your story, collecting all the personal testimonies and creating this excellent resource. I read this in less than a week, but will be consulting it for the rest of my life.
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2023
I wish this book was like a required class as part of how to love people well because we don’t know what we don’t know.
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2019
This book was easy to read,but very conflicted. I think the author made some good points, but you have to realize that everyone grieves differently. I feel that if you don't really want to upset the grieving person, you should just use your best judgement and maybe only give a hug and offer your sympathy for their loss.
We are not all made of money and cannot afford to send the grieving person on a vacation or to a spa for the day, so perhaps a more simple gesture could be appropriate. You need to take this book with a grain of salt. Use your common sense. And yes I too have lost a child, and just recently my mother, so I do understand loss. Grief hurts, but not everyone wants to hear scripture at this time. I am a spiritual and Christian person,but I did not want to hear scripture at the time. You need to realize that grieving people are in shock and not thinking straight at this time. Just use common sense.
23 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2016
What a wonderful, helpful book for GriefShare facilitators, counselors, friends, or anyone who just wants to be someone who helps rather than hurts at a time of grief. No matter how long or short of a time you have been exposed to those who are grieving, you will find practical ways to help in this book. It's also a great resource for those who are grieving in that it may help them better articulate their needs to others. Most people really don't understand the nature of grief due to a death, but truly want to help. If you are grieving, you can help them help you.

Although Nancy Guthrie is very much acquainted with the nature of grief first-hand, this book is largely a compilation of notes and stories from a wide variety of grieving people telling what helped them the most in their journey. You won't regret this purchase.
11 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2017
I have enjoyed many of Nancy Guthrie's other books, all of which have taught me much, This book is probably one of her best. No doubt it has been forged through the fire of her own incredible loss of her two young children, many years ago. The tone of this book is gracious truth but also careful challenge. Her incredibly pertinent chapter on grief expressed via social media alone was worth the price of the book. However, each chapter presents wise truth and compassionate insight. I will be a better friend and companion to those suffering as a result of the wisdom Nancy shared. This book is a gift to the church especially, but anyone who knows someone grieving or herself is grieving will benefit from this highly practical book. Tremendous resource for pastors, grief counselors, etc.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Vanessa tollerton
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2023
Does what the title says.
Lori V
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read and must own book
Reviewed in Canada on March 4, 2020
Quite honestly I am not a fan of this author's Bible studies. I had low expectations for this book- but was so so wrong.

This is a book that should be on every bookshelf in every Christian home. Read it now, refer back to it later when a friend or loved one is walking the road of grief.

It is written clearly- an easy read with quotes, real life wisdom, and helpful ideas for being alongside someone grieving.
One person found this helpful
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lisa yew
5.0 out of 5 stars Common sense advice
Reviewed in Australia on July 7, 2017
Nancy has written an invaluable tool for friends of grieving people. It is the kind of common sense advice that you can almost slap your forehead for not realising before you read it, but which seems like you've always known it afterwards. Also helpful, I think, for people who have experienced grief and want to be there for others. It's different from the other side.
Persephone
5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone should read this book!!
Reviewed in Canada on September 5, 2018
This is a fantastic book on understanding someone who is grieving and how you can help them. We've all heard what you should and shouldn't do or say to someone who's lost a loved one, but this book goes so deep and covers many areas you might not have thought about. Excellent, practical advice on what you can do and also so much information on exactly what they are going through so you can come alongside them and help them through it. Even if you don't know someone who is grieving right now, this is a great book to read in order to be prepared.
One person found this helpful
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B Daniel
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Helpful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2019
Guthrie packs so much wisdom into this book. She has helped me learn how to better speak to those who are grieving, and to understand better what goes on in their minds. Beautifully and tenderly written. Thanks.