Book Review: am I gOOd enOugh?
- Liz Hale
- Apr 8, 2009
- Series: Newsletter Vol. 2 Num. 1
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At the Christian Book sale to benefit the St. Timothy's Home School book table a few weeks ago, I was browsing though the children's books. The title of this little book, which can be read in two hours, grabbed me. And I thought about it - "Yes, I am an adolescent in parts of my spiritual journey; why not buy this book for myself?"
The first section of the book, "How Do You Get There from Here?," explains, in a light and easy-to-understand style, why trying as hard as we can to be as good as we can has nothing to do with going to heaven.
One of my favorite chapters is "Grading on the Curve" - would Mother Teresa skew the curve?
Another example made me think of Mrs. Bellis. A loving grandmother, who served her community well, was asked whether she believed that she would go to heaven. The grandmother replied, as most anyone would, "I hope so." Wow! That doesn't seem fair. Where does that leave you and me?
This led to the second part of the book about "The Alternative." I like the simple examples that Andy Stanley uses to get his points across. In one case, a young child put a huge scratch in her father's expensive new car and offered to clean up her room to make up for the damage. She had no way of understanding that her offer would never come close to repaying the debt, but her father loved her anyway and paid the debt.
In the same way, "God opts for forgiveness rather than fairness. He opted for grace and mercy rather than justice." This easy-to-read book has helped me to understand the significance of the Easter season and to focus on believing in Jesus Christ instead of feeling bad about what I am not doing.
Review by Liz Hale.
Stock photo from half.com.
