the goal of christianity (and more)
a conclusion of lessons learned through books last year
Here’s the last edition of 25 things I learned from reading 100 books. Thanks for following along! If you’ve missed the first twenty, you can find them here:
21. Love is the goal, not a spiritually disciplined life
The Imitation of Christ — Thomas à Kempis
What an absolute banger. So much to glean. Highly recommend.
What was most insightful to me was the high call of committing oneself to a habitual way of living towards God and others without beating ourselves up when those disciplines were forsaken for the betterment of the other.
This was particularly freeing to me in the season of early fatherhood. No longer was my daily quiet time well… quiet or uninterrupted. Instead, I often had to put the Bible down and pick a girl up. Sometimes I had to stop meditating and start changing a diaper.
Read this:
“If an habitual exercise is sometimes omitted out of piety or in the interest of another, it can easily be resumed later. But if it be abandoned carelessly, through weariness or neglect, the the fault is great and will prove hurtful.”
The goal of following Jesus is to become like Him. Spiritual disciplines aid us in this pursuit, but they become a hindrance when they get in the way of loving the real people right in front of us.
Discipline yourself for the sake of godliness AND be godly to those around you.
22. Stop doing Bible studies…
Love Does — Bob Goff
Studying the Bible is vain without subsequent action. Goff encourages his readers to do more ‘Bible Doing’.
It’s easy to sit around in a circle weekly merely talking and trick ourselves into thinking we are becoming more like Jesus. But here’s the rub: Even the demons believe all that and Jesus was the hardest on the Pharisees who had all the Scripture down.
Obedience is the measure of discipleship. “Follow me” — Jesus.
Will you follow Jesus through your actions or keep Him segmented to nice thoughts about Him?
23. I shouldn’t be so hard on Adam and Eve
Perelandra - C.S. Lewis
Perelandra retells the story of Adam and Eve and it’s quite interesting. The temptation from Satan is portrayed as this nagging, curiosity-inducing, and incessant tempter that poses as a friend. His conversations take place over a long period of time.
I think I always viewed the Garden as a one time event (and it might have been), but considering that the serpent may have been persistently nagging for awhile somehow makes me empathize with Adam and Eve a little more.
Not saying they were justified in their actions… Just saying I think I would have fallen as well.
Thank God for His grace.
24. I love epic fantasy
Red Rising, Golden Son, Morning Star — Pierce Brown
Fantasy is fun. The Red Rising universe is so much fun, but not for the faint of heart. Reader beware of excessive violence.
I had one friend who, when reading Red Rising for the first time, was brought to his feet, fist pumping, and exclaiming “Let’s go!” when Darrow makes an unexpected move.
All that to be said, I learned a lot about the complexity of humans through reading this series. For a deeper dive check out my article on this series here:
25. Take a one-minute pause
Get your life back — John Eldredge
Sometimes all it takes is a few deep breaths and a minute of silence to recenter yourself to God. The one-minute pause invites you to stop what you’re doing, slow down, and be present.
Implement when you are feeling overwhelmed, distracted, frustrated, or annoyed. A one-minute pause is small and manageable, worth folding into your daily rhythms.
26. BONUS! Read more, but maybe less
Last year my goal was to read 100 books… I read 104.
This year my goal was to read less.
You should slow down your life and read more! The wisdom of countless greats before us is accessible at our fingertips. You can only dream of getting coffee with great thinkers and picking their brain on their area of expertise. However, you can sit down and take five to eight hours and gain the same insights. It’s truly incredible.
BUT… 100 books might be a bit much. I struggled to implement what I learned because I was always on to the next thought or book. Ideally, you’d be able to read slow enough to be able to digest what you’ve learned and put necessary things into practice.
Happy reading!
Connect in the Comments
What lesson do you resonate the most?
Which one do you disagree with?
Amazing. Thanks for putting this together!
And LOVE perelandra!