4 books on how to grow your faith

“How do you grow your faith?”

Throughout the month of May at Riverside,  we’ve been talking about this question.

It’s an interesting question, no doubt.  And there’s more than one right way to answer this question.  Over the past month at our church, we’ve been looking at some of Paul’s words to the believers in Ephesus to discover how we too can GROW in our faith.

This conversation has sparked a lot of great interest & discussion here at Riverside.  You can click here to read more on this blog about how to GROW your faith, or click here to listen to some of the messages in this series.

There’s certainly more to say on the idea of spiritual growth than I could ever fit into a few messages.  So I thought I would share just a few of my recent favorite books on spiritual formation & a quote or two from each one.

Here they are in no particular order.

4 Books on How to GROW your Faith:

Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster

“A farmer is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. He cultivated the ground, he plants the seed, he waters the plants, & then the natural forces of the earth take over & up comes the grain. This is the way it is with the Spiritual Disciplines – they are a way of sowing the Spirit. The Disciplines are God’s way of getting us into the ground; they put us where he can work within us & transform us. By themselves the Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something can be done. They are God’s means of grace.”  (page 7)

“At the heart of God is the desire to give & to forgive.  Because of this, he set into motion the entire redemptive process that culminated in the cross & was confirmed in the resurrection.  The usual notion of what Jesus did on the cross runs something like this: people were so bad & so mean & God was so angry with them that he could not forgive them unless somebody big enough tool the rap or the whole lot of them.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth.  Love, not anger, brought Jesus to the cross.  Golgotha came as a result of God’s great desire to forgive, not his reluctance.” (page 143)

[Tweet “The [Spiritual] Disciplines are God’s way of getting us into the ground…. – Foster”] [Tweet “At the heart of God is the desire to give & to forgive. – Foster #grow”] [Tweet “Love, not anger, brought Jesus to the cross. – Foster #grow”]

 

How People Grow by Henry Cloud & John Townsend

“Spiritual growth is not only about coming back into a relationship with God and each other, and about pursuing a pure life, but it is also about coming back to life— the life that God created for people to live. This life of deep relationship, fulfilling work, celebration, and more gives us the life we desire and solves our problems. As Paul says, we are “separated from the life of God” (Eph. 4:18). We must be reconciled to life the way it was created to work.”

“While some criticism can be judgmental, direct loving criticism is a necessary part of spiritual growth. In fact, where there is no confrontation, growth is seriously hampered (Eph. 4:15). Don’t be afraid of truth; it hurts but heals.”  (page 28)

[Tweet “Spiritual growth is about coming back to life…. – Cloud/Townsend #grow”] [Tweet “Don’t be afraid of truth; it hurts but heals. – Cloud/Townsend #grow”]

 

Rooted: The Hidden Places Where God Develops You by Banning Liebscher

“I wholeheartedly believe in embracing your dreams & pursuing the passion in your heart. Yet ultimately we are not called to be passionate about a dream but about Jesus & His cause on the earth.  Many people I know & respect did not accomplish things for God simply by following their passion but by being faithful & obedient to what God had placed in front of them.  This will be tested in our life.  Are you more passionate about pursuing a dream or about following Jesus?” (page 18-19)

“If you have a garden, you know you can’t really do much to speedup plant growth.  Gardening is a slow process, & it’s easy to get bored & frustrated watering all the plants day after day.  It can feel like it’s taking forever for anything to grow.  But if you try to encourage the plants’ growth by watering them twice as long, you’ll kill most of them.  Plants can only take so much eater & nutrients, & can only grow so much in a day.  The same is true for us.  If we try to rush our growth, we’ll only destroy it.” (page 31)

[Tweet “Are you more passionate about pursuing a dream or about following Jesus? – Liebscher #grow”] [Tweet “If you have a garden, you know you can’t really do much to speed up plant growth. – Liebscher #grow”]

 

Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith by Ann Spangler & Lois Tverberg

“Would it surprise you to learn that the rabbis thought that study, and not prayer, was the highest form of worship? They pointed out that when we pray, we speak to God, but that when we study the Scriptures, God speaks to us.” (Kindle Locations 392-394)

“Like Moses, Jesus brought God’s word to earth. More than that, he was God’s Word incarnate. With this in mind, it is hardly surprising that he spent his life as a Jewish rabbi. In both life and death he is our Great Teacher, redeeming us so that we can learn from him how to live.” (Kindle Locations 491-493)

[Tweet “When we study the Scriptures, God speaks to us. – Spangler/Tverberg #grow”] [Tweet “[Jesus] is our Great Teacher, redeeming us so that we can learn how to live. -Spangler/Tverberg”]

What are some of your favorite books on spiritual formation?  I’d love to hear what you’re reading that has helped you in your faith journey.  Leave a comment below with your favorite books.  Thanks!