Three Sentence Summary
Gentle & Lowly brings forth the heart of Christ from the Scriptures to shine on the hearts of weary pastors, deacons, and church members. We often misunderstand the character of God and in our hardest times, we can tend to believe he is harsh, demeaning, or at least absent. Jesus Christ, the exact imprint of the Father’s nature, tells us He is gentle and lowly at heart, and it is only in Him that we can understand who God truly is in all circumstances and find rest for our souls.
Overall Impression
I’ll be honest, I read this book twice. The first time was when the book first came out and frankly had significant hype around it. On my first read, I read the first few chapters closely then quickly fell into the attitude, “Ehh, I know all this stuff already”, and I skimmed the rest, finishing in just a couple of days.
Later that year, I went through a spiritual assessment workshop in which I realized I project my experiences with my father and my coaches onto God and misunderstand His character. Theoretically, I know He’s loving, but deep down I see Him less like a safe, loving Father and more like a harsh manager or taskmaster. Shortly after my assessment, I swallowed some humble pie and re-read the book (slowly). I appreciate Gentle & Lowly for its sound biblical truth, its exaltation of Christ and the nature of our God, and the choice selection of passages to highlight such characteristics.
Favorite Quotes
The Christian Life is the long journey of letting our natural assumption about who God is, over many decades fall away, being slowly replaced with God’s own insistence on who He is [and who we are].
Ortlund (p. 151)
It is resetting the Orphan mindset everyday. The felt love of Christ is that which is needed to live in true shalom.
Ortlund (p. 186)
Top Takeaways
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you rightly experience God as a loving Father and not a harsh manager.
- Trust that Christ is for you, standing in solidarity with you in hard trials and circumstances
Disclaimer
Please note: If you liked this review or my linked summary, I encourage you to purchase the book. This review is meant to be a supplement to the book and certainly not a substitute.
