Confession…I love to read but it is a real struggle for me to read non-fiction books. With that being said, there are a lot of non-fiction books that I really want to read and desire to learn from.
It is one of my goals this year to make non-fiction reading a habit in my life. One way I’m doing this is by purposing to alternate reading fiction and non-fiction books. I recently finished reading All the Light We Cannot See, which was an excellent historical fiction book and began with my first non-fiction book of this year, Own Your Life by Sally Clarkson.
Sally Clarkson’s books have had a huge impact on my mothering and homeschooling with mission. I have been excited to read her new book. As I was reading this morning, I began thinking about how I could get the most out of it and truly learn from the non-fiction books I’ll be reading this year. And then it struck me…I’m really going to read them with intention by taking notes (I’ve got a simple spiral notebook that I’m using) and blogging my thoughts as I read.
With that, I’m going to begin a series called Reading With Intention where I’ll blog my thoughts and notes as I read. I don’t have a terribly structured plan. I’ll post these probably once a week (Thursday seems like a good day). I plan on going through Own Your Life one chapter at a time, but I may combine chapters if I feel it necessary. The goal is not to be super rigid with this, but to really read these books with intention and purpose so that I can get the most out of my reading.
The first thought that I had even before I really began to dig into Own Your Life is one that may seem to be a bit of contradiction with the premises of the book, but I promise it’s not.
My Life is Not My Own
As I look at the title of Own Your Life by Sally Clarkson, the very first thought that runs through my mind is, “but this is not my life.”
My life is not my own because it has been bought with a price. My life does not belong to me…it belongs to Christ.
There is a bit of danger in thinking that we own our life. There is a selfishness that comes along with that thought. Our sin nature would love for us to cling to the through of owning our life because then we can live our life for our selves, pleasing our selves and the desires of our sinful nature.
As Christian women, we must recognize that our life is not our own to live. We were bought with a price. It was a hefty price paid by Christ as He took on our sin and our shame on the Cross of Calvary.
1 Corinthians 7:23 says,
You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.
Not becoming bondservants of men includes not becoming a slave to the world at large, friends, family, neighbors, or our own selves.
Being a Steward of This Life
Rather than claiming this life as my own, it is my desire and responsibility to be a steward of this life that God has entrusted to me. I want to use my life to glorify God.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says,
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
The sub-title of Sally Clarkson’s book is “Living with deep intention, bold faith, and generous love.” Recognizing that we do not own our life, that it belongs to Christ and we are stewards of this life that He has entrusted to us, does not negate the sub-title and premises of Own Your Life, it just makes it all the more important.
We “glorify God in our body” by living with deep intention, bold faith, and generous love.
We “glorify God in our body” by taking responsibility for our choices, our attitudes, our will and our actions, knowing that they will all have consequences for eternity.
I look forward to reading Own Your Life with intention and sharing my thoughts with you as I do so…it is already making a huge impact on my life and I’m excited to see how God is going to continue using it.
This is my invitation to you to join me in reading with intention this year! I highly recommend Own Your Life and would love to hear your thoughts as I share mine.
Pat says
I know how hard it is to read nonfiction. My goal this year is to read one nonfiction book a month. I’m glad when I finish the book but I really struggle with reading it. It makes me feel like I’m riding a bike uphill and reading fiction is like riding it downhill. I feel good each time when I finish, but it is much harder going uphill. Good luck with this.