Hubbard quotes John in saying, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). For this reason, I find the true life stories that begin each chapter to be relatable and inspiring. We all sin. If we could stop, we would, but since we can't, it's helpful to take that step back and see Hubbard's experiences and how she learned and grew from each experience. Her stories are humorous, sad, and everything in between, told in an engaging and accessible manner for young adult to adult readers.
These personal anecdotes blended effortlessly with Bible verses and stories, without it seeming as though Hubbard was reaching for connections. However, during some chapters the Bible connections seemed to go on a little too long for my attention span. Hubbard found so many great examples to go along with each of her points, but covering five different angles of the same point from the Bible bogged down my reading.
My favorite message appeared in the final chapter, "The Religious Serial Sinner." I appreciated Hubbard pointing out the hypocrisy of judging other Christians (or non-Christians) on their sins, when no sin is better or worse than another in God's eyes. Her description of how we should be real rather than "religious" was well explained as well: "He desires us to indulge in a real relationship with him, one that involves repentance and redemption, rather than religious rituals and rule following as ways to earn righteousness (96).
FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Cross Focused Reviews for this review. The opinion in this review is unbiased and reflects my honest judgment of the product.
I don't read religious stuff, but clearly Christians would get a lot out of this book. As for the multiple examples to make one point, maybe the author could have just briefly referred to some of them, and focused on two or three in greater detail.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly the solution I was thinking of, too. Woulve been neater, I think. Thanks for reading!
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