Love Does Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

Brief Summary

Goff’s perspective on life and faith demands that you take an active role in all that you do. Rather than expecting God to come to your rescue, you have to pursue what you want. Allowing yourself to try for big things and forgiving failures is important. If you live by making your decisions based on what love does, you can bring great things to your life.

About the Author

Bob Goff is an attorney and legal advocate. He founded Restore International for work in Uganda, Afghanistan, India, and other countries. Restore International is now called Love Does. The focus of his organization is to promote education and human rights in conflict zones. Goff also co-founded a law firm, worked as an adjunct professor, and traveled as a motivational speaker. Love Does was his first book.

Love is an action, not a state of being, and it is the key to living a bold, incredible, and awesome life.

Topics

Religion & Spirituality

Love Does Book Summary Preview

What you’ll learn:

How to live Christian principles without being focused on being a religious person.
How to take bold actions that demonstrate love.
That it’s okay to fail.
The greatest results can come from taking big risks.
You don’t need to be embarrassed about doing too much, even if others might judge you for it.

Who this is for:

Aspiring professionals
Anyone that feels like they have a boring life
Individuals interested in being better partners, parents, and friends
People looking to incorporate their faith into their life in a meaningful way

Key Insights

Anyone can be awesome, or at least that’s what Bob Goff thinks. By living a life motivated by love and the teachings of Jesus Christ, you can have an awesome life no matter how “ordinary” you think you are. But it’s important that you take action and don’t just think about your values, dreams, or religious ideals.

Love Does is Goff’s memoir and a reflection on his evolving faith. The stories and experiences he shares exemplify his lessons about being bold. He is showing how he lives the lessons of Christianity and acts out of love, which requires that he take bold action. As a result, he has had an incredible life full of rich and rewarding experiences.

Christianity and faith were always a part of Goff’s life, but his view of God has changed.

When he was young, Goff thought God came to your rescue when you were in need. He likened it to the way your parents or doctors rush to help you after an injury. This perception reflected his own experience after injuring his eye with his dad’s rifle. He was taken to the hospital and everything was taken care of. God provided whatever you needed.

As he got older, Goff’s perspective changed. In high school, a friend taught him about Jesus Christ. Goff saw Jesus as an inspiring person that did amazing things. This was not because he simply believed in or waited for God to do something. Jesus took action for himself and inspired others to do the same.

Goff reflects on his experiences on a Little League baseball team. His coach was always identifying and encouraging their potential. For example, when the team lost their playoffs game, the coach didn’t focus on the loss. Instead, he congratulated Goff on making a home run and said that he was talented. Goff likens this to the way Jesus inspired his disciples.

Instead of waiting for God to come to his rescue, Goff now sees Jesus as his inspiration.

Goff now believes it is more important to take action following the behavior of Jesus, rather than passively learning about religion.

Organized religion is often about learning the word of God and teachings from the Bible. But Goff believes Christianity should be more active than that. It is less useful to know what is in the Bible than to live out its principles.

Goff has changed his approach to religious practice consistent with his shifting view of faith. He has tried to incorporate the principles in a more active way. In particular, he is...