Earlier this month I read a book that I desperately needed:

Sam Crabtree. Practicing Affirmation: God-Centered Praise of Those Who Are Not God. Wheaton: Crossway, 2011.

And I already need to read it again.

Sam Crabtree is executive pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, and John Piper, that church’s pastor for preaching and vision, writes the foreword.

Here’s an interview with the author (audio):

https://vimeo.com/51221224

And here are some excerpts from the book:

[T]he praising of people does not necessarily preclude the praising of God, if the people are commended ultimately for his glory. God is glorified in us when we affirm the work he has done and is doing in others. (p. 12)

Good affirmations are God-centered, pointing to the image of God in a person. (p. 18)

Proportionality matters when it comes to affirmation, for affirmation can be choked out by criticism, correction, or mere indifference and neglect. (p. 44)

It takes many affirmations to overcome the impact of a criticism, because criticisms are heavier and sting more. (p. 48)

Corrections tend to cancel affirmations, and the closer the proximity to correction, the more crippled the affirmation. (p. 64)

I can be so quick to point out the negative while taking the positive for granted, assuming people around me will behave the way I think they should and forgetting that I might have a role to play in encouraging them to behave in certain ways. (p. 74)

Not only commend people to their faces (or in letters), but commend them behind their backs, whether or not the report ever gets back to them. (p. 109)

Related: Bob Kaulflin on receiving compliments

Update: I named this book one of the top three of 2011.