Review: Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund

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"Your theology drives your methodology."

If you've heard me preach, you have heard me say this repeatedly. What we believe about God will drive how we live our lives.

When I say belief, I'm not talking about just a superficial acknowledgement of God. The devil "believes" in God! What you believe about him, his character, his nature, his holiness, his will, his plans for humanity - all of those combined will drive how we live. We either live out of our understanding of him, or our lives are dictated by our lack of knowledge. And in some cases, even out of rebellion.

Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortund takes the reader on a rich, theological dive through the Bible to unpack the LOVE of Jesus Christ.

We can sing Sunday school songs that "Jesus loves me, this I know, cause the Bible tells me so." But do we actually know what the Bible says about Jesus' love for us?

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28

These words from Jesus cry out to an exhausted culture, and churches stuck in spiritual ruts.

Ortlund's book is broken down into twenty-three short chapters diving into an aspect of Jesus' love. While very rich in theological depth, his writing style makes it easy for anyone to engage with the material. You don't need a Master's degree to learn theology :)

I could easily spend a month in each chapter focused on the aspect of Jesus presented in the pages. I found Ortlund's writing stirring my heart with a longing for even more of Jesus' love to play out in my life. Like all of us, it's easy to read the words of Jesus saying "come to me", but then just go about my day and get my responsibilities finished. This book is more than just a theological mind dump. It's about allowing God to transform us deeply into his character of love because of the love we have received.

The more we understand Jesus' love, the more it changes our perspective of God and our view of the world around us.

I've been reading this book slowly over the course of several months... don't rush this one. Let this one bring you closer to Jesus' love!

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