Choose Greatness: 11 Wise Decisions that Brave Young Men Make

by Gary Chapman, Clarence Shuler

Why do some teens thrive as adults while others struggle? What makes the difference?
Gary Chapman, the New York Times #1 bestselling author of The Five Love Languages®, and Clarence Shuler met when Clarence was still a teen. Gary mentored Clarence and helped him make wise decisions during his tumultuous teen years. Decades later, the two are still close friends and both lead powerful ministries that help people all around the world live better, more godly lives.

Genres: Parenting, Christian Living, Christianity, Nonfiction

Audio CD

Published January 1, 2019

About the author

Gary Demonte Chapman is an American author and radio talk show host. Chapman is most noted for his The Five Love Languages series regarding human relationships.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary Chapman and Clarence Shuler wrote Choose Greatness to help guide young man along the path to adulthood. While the book is meant for young men, I believe that young ladies can also glean good information from the book. Gary Chapman comes from a perspective of being raised by white parents while Clarence Shuler was raised by black parents. To me, this gives the authors permission to speak to readers of different races.

The book is divided into eleven wise decisions young men need to make.
#1 Choose to Seek Wisdom from Parents or Trusted Adults

#2 Choose to Seek Knowledge through Education

#3 Choose to Make Technology Work for You

#4 Choose to Be Successful: Work Hard

#5 Choose to Respect Girls and Women

#6 Choose to Be Sexually Responsible

#7 Choose to Live Longer and Happier – Avoid Drugs and Alcohol

#8 Choose to Live Longer and Happier – Avoid Tobacco and Marijuana

#9 Choose to Build Diverse Friendships

#10 Choose to Invest Time in Helping Others

#11 Choose to Discover the Truth About God

I appreciated how the authors “introduce themselves” throughout the book so that the reader knows which author is addressing them. Since the two men come from very different backgrounds, it seems important is some parts for the reader to know who is speaking. I also appreciate how the authors repeatedly tell the reader to consult with a parent or Christian role model as they work through the book.

The book is full of great information and real life examples for each of the decisions discussed. The book closes with a list of a dozen good questions to ask when making decisions. I found this book to be an “easy read” which is important in books for teen boys who don’t always “enjoy” reading.

Our high school English teacher does one Christian literature book report a year. I am going to recommend she add this title to her list. I think it is an important book for all young men to read.

I received a complimentary copy or Choose Greatness from Moody Press.

[Reyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are always looking for good lectures for our 12yo boy, that is why moms are also asking me for ideas for their own children to read.

When I saw this title I knew I wanted it for Him. It is a short book with 11 wise decisions the authors explore (with some other challenges involved). My son read one per afternoon, I asked about each chapter and at night he is discussing it with his dad about the questions involved at the end of each chapter.

The authors present eleven wise decisions young men need to make. I enjoyed knowing which author is talking each time. I'm so thankful for this kind of resources for young men. Many moms have told me they are happy about wise decision #5. My love language is Acts of service, probably that is why I'm thankful about #10 wise decision "Chose to invest time in helping others"

Another mom asked me about the chapter about “choose to be sexually responsible”,I recommend you to read it first and decide how to talk about this with your child, reading along and talking in about it in a way he can understand and with the level of maturity he has. This culture is used to believe that being “responsible” is just to use condom, and it is not, I'm glad the authors didn't share the topic with that light world view. The chapter is clear about consecuences and gives young men 3 higher challenges to be responsible. If you are interested and your kid is young, I recommend you to read it first and then with your son. Is a very short and easy to read book. 170 clean and vivid pages.
This book it is important, informative, wise and not toxic at all, it even encourages young men to respect girl and women. I read a very uninformed and false review about it… it is sad people write without reading the book, you need to read the whole book to give an opinion, and also must be validated with education when you write about it. It is sad, because what we need as a society is a well-informed view about this generation. All I read in every page was 2 men educated author trying to help young men with facts, not just opinion. and also being respectful with men and women in the way they wrote.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Choosing Greatness is a powerful punch of a book, with short chapters filled with personal anecdotes, to discuss, as the title suggests wise decisions that young men make. When preparing to read the book there are the obvious vices that one would expect to be covered in this brief volume, such as sexual and substance abuse issues. Whilst these are covered, unexpectedly but necessarily other essential issues are covered including work ethic and a pursuit of God. Whilst some of the discussions of sexual diseases may limit the audience to those firmly in teenage years, the other content is essential for pre-teen and early teen aged men. This provides an easy guide to begin practically disciple students, sons and mentors not necessarily in clearly spiritual concepts but in practical life-essential concepts. It’s brevity also reduces the necessary buy-in for those wanting to use this resource. The questions included after each chapter also allows for easy anchoring of the content in reality.

A copy of the book was provided by the publisher, although all thoughts herein are my own.

[Chandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book for young men, especially teen boys. I read this with my 13 year old son, and it was an easy book to read with great ideas on how to live a full life. Things don't just happen to us, they are a result of all the choices we make throughout life. This book covers topics like choose life (abstaining from drugs and alcohol), choose to respect women (I like that my son read about this), choose to make technology work for you (instead of you living for it), and so many others. It took about a week to read through and discuss each topic, but I think it's a great book for young men.

[Kim Grubbs · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is very hetero, Christian, middle to upper class, white, machismo book that is a rather old fashioned book of what it means to be a man. There is talk about the man needing to financially support his wife. There are also Christian/bible statements throughout that reinforce their opinions. I know there is a fair amount of people who will identify with the Christian perspective, but I read it as if you didn't have this perspective, you were lesser than. I have read other Gary Chapman books and have found them to be very good (Five Love Languages Five Love Languages of Teens). But this book was too far to one side on so many levels that it did not feel helpful in really trying to construct a book for men in today's society.

[Vincent Ng · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like the book, while having important topics, doesn't not have much substance and lacks depth in each other the chapters. What the book has going for it is that the different chapters are supplemented by colourful illustrations. The "Ask Yourself" questions can leave the readers not thinking too much about the topic, providing one word, generic answers. Additionally, this feels like a Christian, "be a better you" type of book, with a faith-based chapter tacked on at the end to make it Christian. Don't think I would be recommending this book.

[Adrienne Servis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for young men. Great advice in finding a role model whom you can trust. Not every young man has a father in his life, but every young man can have a father figure who will lead them in wise decisions for life choices. The chapters are deep and cover A-Z, but are needed for young men to see how to live and that they can make better choices. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of the launch group.

[Jonah Kunisch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Everything about this book screams a mediocre, if not piss-poor, approach to scholarship. Which makes the title deeply ironic. I wish I could say that the actual advice given in the book is good, but much of it is quarter-baked and incoherent in practice.
As for the author's 'work' on the book: the cover image is from iStock, many of the attributions (if you can call them that) are to BrainyQuote.com, and unbelievably tired clichés are repeated verbatim and posed as fresh insight.
For a more in-depth look at why this book and those like it make for bad education of young people, see CS Lewis' Abolition of Man.

[Ruthe Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could, I would place a copy of this book into the hands of every teenage boy. The book discusses 11 decisions often made in the teenage years - decision that can make - or break - a life. Teenagers with a promising future can make one bad decision that ends in harsh consequences. Teenagers may not realize the importance of making good choices - if you have a teenage boy in your life, give him a copy of this book!

[Devb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a list of several things that the authors gave advice on like respecting women, drugs, pornography and making good friends. There is also a chapter on finding God in your life. Everything they talked about seemed like basic common sense but I guess some people lack that and don’t have an adult to teach them these things. It would be a great book for young teenage boys to open dialogue with parents.

[Stewart Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book directed at boys and young men. He covers almost every topic that a parent would be concerned about. My only hesitation would be practicing caution with giving the book to a boy who is so young since he tackles a lot of mature topics such as pornography. He gets pretty descriptive in the sexual pornography area that a parent might want to exercise caution. I anticipate reading this book with my boys as they get older.

[Saby ♱ · Rating 5 out of 5]

yes, I had read this when i was 13; and im also a girl; what stood out to me most is the thing about father's guidance to their sons, as someone who has an older brother and no father figure, i think i can really relate that part to my brother; i had suggested and gave him this book, but he doesn't even read books TT, i feel like being an older sister to my older brother, but maybe its js normal since they mature later.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a simple, quick read that would be a great book for a parent or mentor to read along with a teen boy. Boys need to learn what it means to be a God-honoring man and they need other men to model that out for them. This books gives men ideas on how to model out a life honoring to God and gives teen boys knowledge of what choices they should make in order to begin honoring God as a man.

[Pía López Copetti · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry but I don't buy the religious stuff that claims that people are just great by going to church every Sunday. Maybe it's because I grew up with the hypocrisy of attending a Catholic school were people were mostly worried about how to shame and mock others rather than apply the "good Christian values" - teachers and students alike.

[Joey Peacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for the boys and their year of manhood readings.

[Apzmarshl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book to go through with my boys. It started a lot of great discussions.

[Alex Kearney · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent book to trick young unbelieving men into living like a Christian without letting them know the way in.

"Invest your life in work that you love doing."

[Bri369 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reading other books by Gary Chapman and came upon this book. Even though this book is written by men and for young men, I was able to learn from the book too.

[Fem Comparativo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5