Everybody, Always by Bob Goff
Week 5: The Positive Effects of Negative People — Loving the Difficult Ones
Read the chapters in Everybody, Always on loving people who push back, criticize, or make themselves hard to love. Key passage: Matthew 5:43–48 (Love your enemies).
Previewing Week 5 of Everybody, Always
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 13-week guide when you’re ready.
Some of the most important people in our formation are the ones who are hardest to be around — and Bob has a surprising take on why. Come ready to reconsider the most difficult person in your life.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Bob makes a counterintuitive argument: difficult people are not obstacles to our growth in love — they are instruments of it. What does he mean, and do you find that convincing?
2.Jesus tells us to love our enemies — not tolerate them, not pray for them from a safe distance, but love them. What does that command reveal about the nature of the love Jesus is asking us to have?
3.Think about the most difficult person in your life right now. What makes them difficult — their behavior, their opinions, their neediness, their history with you?
a.If you tried to describe that person the way Bob describes the people he has loved, leading with curiosity and generosity, what would you say?
b.What might that person's difficulty be revealing about something in you that still needs to grow?