I’ve been a little behind on my book reviews recently, so here is one that I’ve been meaning to share for awhile now!
What drew me to this book was that it’s all about IDENTITY. As a 20-year-old college student, I grapple with questions like “What is my current identity?” and “What do I want my identity to be?” on a weekly basis. Such questions have played a role in choosing my majors, choosing my university, and choosing a (rough draft) plan for post-graduation.
While this book is specifically geared towards junior high / middle schoolers and high schoolers, it still had parts that resonated with me as a young person and as someone interested in learning about how to root one’s identity in Jesus.
John C. Majors fills the book with bible verses, lighthearted humor, and simple language that is easy to follow and makes this book perfect for reading in one sitting or for flipping to the chapters that are most relevant for you. Majors also designed the book to encourage readers to be active reflectors in their own identity and to write in the book through a couple of more interactive spots.
The core of the book explains why there is only one “true” identity that will always hold up. In short, putting your sense of purpose and meaning in anything other than God will inevitably let you down, at some point, because manly and earthly things (like physical appearance and relationships) are temporary and imperfect.
The rest of the book explores common areas of identity, including gender, social ties, and dating. However, I did find some of these chapters to be very biased towards conservationism, especially the ones on homosexuality and on gender. These were the only problematic portions of the book for me because they oversimplified the issues and were out-of-touch with modern social developments and understandings.
Overall, these book provides a light introduction into recognizing your current identity and how to create a new, godly identity. Since much of the humor is aimed at teenagers and the presentation is straightforward and simple this book is best-suited for young teenagers. Still, it provides a quick + light read into Christ-bound identity for all ages. Again, the one caveat is that the chapters on gender and sexuality are more traditional-minded and could be politically disagreeable.
Whether or not you pick up this book (and I’m not saying that everyone necessarily should) I encourage you to think about what your identity is rooted in and to evaluate how secure and stable that source is.
Hope you’ve had a great weekend!
Love always,
K♥
*Disclaimer: I received this book courtesy of Bethany House for the purposes of review. All opinions are my own.
by thekarebear 