If you've read more than a couple of my book reviews, you might have noticed that I tend to give four- or five-star ratings to most of the books I read to review. Because I'm not a professional book reviewer (or anything else, for that matter), I am able to select which books I'd like to receive to read and review. In order to steward my time, I tend to choose only books that I'm pretty sure I'll find interesting and want to invest time in reading.
With that in mind, I requested a review copy of Guiltless Living
: Confessions of a Serial Sinner by Ginger (Plowman) Hubbard. Years ago, I picked up a copy of her resource, Wise Words for Moms
, and found it to be a helpful resource in guiding our children to identify the underlying heart issue when dealing with their sin. Guiltless Living's
introduction is worth reading, as Hubbard takes time to address her conviction of the seriousness of the sin she will be confessing in this book. She makes clear her motive:Sometimes, when we step back and look at our behavior, we find it so ridiculous that it becomes humorous. But let me clarify one thing here. Sin is not a laughing matter. The things that God sent his Son to die for are not funny. However, I see nothing wrong with laughing at ourselves and how ridiculously we behave at times. My motive is not to make light of sin, but to acknowledge how utterly foolish I can be when I am living out of my sinful nature rather than with Christ. (p12)
Hubbard weaves personal stories throughout the book as she deals with the sins such as being critical, prideful, controlling, impatient, miserly, selfish, and religious. Each sinful attitude is contrasted the appropriate godly characteristic. The stories, while sometimes extreme, are geared to help the reader identify her own sinful attitudes. Hubbard then shifts to scripture to provide biblical teaching on developing a godly heart attitude in that area. A Bible study guide for each chapter is provided at the end of the book.
I think this book may be helpful to many Christian women. Personally, I had a hard time shifting from the personal stories -- many of which could have been part of a stand-up comedy act -- to serious study and evaluation. In fact, I grew a bit weary of the extreme anecdotes and found myself skimming to the end of the book. I'm neither happy nor proud of that, and I would like to go back and glean more truth as I know need to grow in all of these areas.
Cross Focused Reviews provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for a review; however, the views stated here are my own. This review has also been posted on Amazon.com and Goodreads. This post contains affiliate links.
