For an online Bible class I'm taking through Cedarville University, I was assigned to read Habits of Grace by David Mathis. It turns out that I really enjoyed this book, and it changed how I think about grace, as well as some of the habits that I practice in my daily life.
Habits of Grace is about how God’s grace is very present in our lives. Mathis claims that while we can’t do anything to receive God’s grace, there are practices that put us in the path of God’s grace (so to speak). He claims the three main ways that we do this is through reading His Word, praying, and spending time in fellowship with other believers. These three practices make up the three parts of the book, but throughout the book he goes deeper into these by exploring topics like studying scripture, scripture memorization, meditation, prayer, fasting, journaling, fellowship, corporate worship, preaching, and so much more! He talks about how all of these practices are gifts from God and great ways to receive His grace.
This book was an eye-opener to some of the ways that we can receive God's grace in our daily lives. The first thing I liked about this book is the general structure of each chapter. At the beginning of each chapter, he would explain what the "Habit of Grace" was before moving into why it is important. He usually ended the chapter with some practical ways to implement the "Habit of Grace" into your daily life. I found this general structure to be super helpful and straightforward. Another aspect I really liked about this book was how to-the-point David Mathis was. Oftentimes, non-fiction theology books like these spend too much time on each point, but I think Mathis spent the perfect amount of time on each topic. Each chapter was just a few pages long, which was the perfect amount of time to understand what he was saying without it feeling like Mathis was beating a dead horse. Finally, this book was both convicting and encouraging! Let's just say, I learned a lot in this book that I want to implement more into my spiritual life (such as meditation, journaling, and scripture memorization)!
I highly recommend reading this book! I really enjoyed reading it, and it really taught me a lot about God's grace, and gave me "Habits of Grace" that I want to implement into my daily life. I definitely think you should read this book if you haven't already! You can buy it on Amazon.