My Favorite Christian Books That Helped Me Grow In My Faith

I love reading. That’s it, that’s the post.

I’ve written a post on faith-filled books that helped me grow in my faith, but I’ve read more incredible books that deserve to have their spot on the blog.

Christian books, to me, can sort into different sub-genres. There are the more “self-help” Christian books, aka books written by Sadie Rob Huff, Annie F. Downs, Grace Valentine, and Bob Goff. Then, there are the more Christian living books that I like to classify as the books that you read to learn more about God, following Jesus, and Christianity overall. While the Christian self-help books are great, I will preface that they aren’t theology-heavy; those books talk about struggles that many people, especially young people, struggle with today like comparison, body image, mental health, social media influence, etc. The more theology-heavy books focus more on getting to know God and His character, diving deep on heavy topics like Sabbath, forgiveness, and more like that. Both of these sub-genres are great in itself, and I’ve read amazing and well-written books in both sub-genres. Personally, I tend to gravitate towards the self-help books, because they are more relatable and easier to read. However, I do recommend checking out the theology section of the bookstore to learn more about Christianity overall.

This post includes both Christian self-help and the “theology-heavy” books that contain a multitude of big words and may seem daunting to read, but are actually pretty great.

Am I Enough? By Grace Valentine

Kicking off this post with a great Christian “self-help” book, which actually, was one of the first books I read as a re-committed Christian in my early 20s. Grace Valentine is an author in her twenties, and she writes mini-books and blogs on her Instagram (@thegracevalentine) about comparison, loneliness, singleness and relationships, and college. Her first book, Am I Enough? talks about comparison in college, party culture, feeling not enough, and trusting God even when it’s hard. For girls in college and navigating post-grad life, I highly recommend picking up this book—like, right now.

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Live Fearless by Sadie Robertson

Another AMAZING book that is very relatable, packed with biblical truths, and hilarious stories. (Check out the chapter on plankton.) Sadie Robertson (now Sadie Rob Huff), in her book, Live Fearless, talks about living original (her brand), overcoming anxiety and fear, her stories of battling insecurity, comparison, and isolation—just like so many of us do, and even tells stories of her while she was on Dancing with the Stars. She has more books out, but I highly, highly recommend starting with this one as this is the beginning of her “career” as a speaker, author, writer, and influencer that she is today.

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Follow Me By David Platt

I think I’d classify this in the theology-heavy books, but I’ve only read half of it, so if you’ve read the whole thing and disagree, please comment below. Aside from that, David Platt is a pastor and author of several books, including Follow Me. This book dives into the words that Jesus said in the Gospels, “Follow me.” What does that mean—especially in today’s culture? He dives into what it means to be an active follower of Christ.

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We’re All Freaking Out (And Why We Don’t Have To) by David Marvin

This book. I must admit, I was a tad bit hesitant to pick this one up solely because a pastor talking about anxiety causes confusion. I thought he would just say “pray about it” and recite Philippians 4:8-9 and 1 Peter 5:7. Which he did, but he also included a lot of therapy references, like CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), and sourced a lot of mental health studies and references. While I encourage you to learn more about mental health using credible resources from licensed professional counselors and possibly in your own journey of therapy, this book gave a great perspective on balancing your faith with mental health and how us as Christians can maintain positive mental health.

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Having a Mary Heart In A Martha World by Joanna Weaver

This book was recommended to me because I am an Enneagram Type 2. You’ve probably heard of the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10, and maybe you relate more to Martha. In case that’s you, I recommend you pick up this book. This book is for the woman who’s ever felt she isn’t godly enough, isn’t loving enough, isn’t doing enough. Sound like you? Martha was like that. She loved Jesus, and really wanted to serve Him, but she struggled with not doing enough and struggled to get everything done. Then Jesus. Jesus invites us into a joyful life of intimacy with Him that flows naturally into loving service. The author, Joanna Weaver, shows how all of us can draw closer to Jesus.

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Single, Dating, Engaged, Married by Ben Stuart

Whether you are single, dating, engaged, or married, you want to read this book. This is just one of the best books on dating for Christians—it comes highly recommended by a lot of people. This book can help anyone in any relationship stage navigate the four critical seasons of a relationship. Single? No worries, you can still read the marriage portion to prepare your heart for marriage. Married? Obviously, read the married portion but read the other parts to connect with your friends in other relationship stages.

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You Are The Girl For The Job By Jess Connolly

I know I love a book when the pages are bent, worn out, and written in. Jess’s book for the gal pushing her to believe the God who calls you and believe in His calling for you, helped change my perspective on callings. She helps you unlock your passions and gifts and make a move to achieve those callings and dreams. She coaches the reader to face your fears, catch the visions, and finally make the moves. Obviously, this is more self-help, but she does offer sound biblical insights into daring to believe the calling God put on you and to use the gifts that He gave you.

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It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way by Lysa TerKeurst

This book came highly recommended to me, and I will always recommend this to any Christian gal going through any struggle. When we find ourselves disappointed, Lysa TerKeurst knows what that feels like. She helps the reader discover that our disappointments can be the things that God uses to lead us closer to Him. She’s an incredible author and again, I highly, highly recommend reading this book.

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Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst

While I recommended It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way, I think I have to say that Uninvited is my favorite book out of the books I read written by Lysa TerKeurst. This book is mainly about loneliness, and living loved when you feel less than, left out, and lonely. She also talks about rejection, and examines the roots of rejection and its ability to poison relationships including our relationship with God. She helps us stop feeling left out by believing that even when you are overlooked by others, and overcome the two core fears that feed your insecurities by understanding the secret of belonging. I highly, highly recommend reading this book!

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Everybody Always by Bob Goff

Bob Goff is one of my FAVORITE Christian authors. Like I mentioned above, these books are more self-help and less theology-heavy, but Bob Goff still includes sound biblical insight in the stories he tells in each chapter. This is follow-up to his debut novel, Love Does, and he takes readers on a journey into the secret of living without fear, constraint, or worry. He instructs readers to love people, even the difficult ones, without distinction and without limits. he tells stories, instructing readers to embody love by doing the unexpected, the intimidating, the seemingly impossible. Highly, highly recommend reading this.

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Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis is a very well-known Christian author. I think he’s most well-known for The Chronicles of Narnia series, but he’s written quite a few books on Christianity and faith, and that includes Mere Christianity. I recommend reading Mere Christianity if you are just dipping your toe into Christianity and faith or if you’ve been a Christian for a while and interested in picking up a C.S. Lewis book. This book is a good starting point for either the new Christian or the new C.S. Lewis reader.

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