Three themes

Hi guys! Over the last four weeks I've been blessed with a lot of time to read and have gotten through 22 different books. Many of these were Christian advice books that gave me a lot to think about as well as practical ways for growing closer to the Lord. As I read, I began to find similar themes that each Christian book would at least touch on, so three themes were drilled into my head quite a bit. I don't have anything original or super inspirational for you, but I do want to share these ideas with you.

1. Who rules your heart? What do you desire? Ultimately, we do what we do because we want what we want. If Christ rules your heart than your ultimate desire is to glorify Him and even if you aren't perfect at that (which no one is) you will get better at it each day. The war of words is won in your heart, the battle against sin is a battle against desires, your life is transformed when you know who’s you are. Your identity and where your heart belongs was a big part of each Christian book. 

2. Grace is strong enough to help you win any battle, and it's free! Sin is already defeated, and if you're in God than you are dead to sin. The real battle has already been won and Christ has given you grace to help you continue to love Him and grow in faith. You’re not expected to be perfect because He was perfect for you. You can conquer any sin because of His grace working in you, you can speak love because he loves, you can live a life that reflects Christ only because He gives you the grace to do so. The battle has been won and your fight is transformed into something courageous, beautiful, and honoring.

3. Community is key. All the books at least mentioned accountability with faithful Christians and they all talked about fellowship in the church. Church has never been that for me, but I am trying harder now to find a community with them than I used to be. One book described church as broken, hurting sinners coming to admit their imperfections and help others grow spiritually. For me, its always been trying to avoid awkwardness and looking as perfect as I can. I don’t have the relationship with my church that I should, and all of these books admonished me for that. As I read, I began to see my relationship with this community of Christians as lacking and learned a few things to help me fix it.

Those are my three, very brief takeaways. Obviously, that's not all I learned from what I read but they were a common factor in each book. The Christian books I read are:

Chosen By God by R.C. Sproul

Because He Loves Me by Elyse Fitzpatrick

The Cost Of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

5 Things Every Christian Needs To Grow by R.C. Sproul

It's Not Supposed To Be This Way by Lysa Terkeurst

Love Does by Bob Goff

Shame Interrupted by Edward Welch

War Of Words by Paul David Tripp

Diehard Sins by Rush Witt

Made For More by Hannah Anderson