by Emily Conrad

When fellow blogger Allie Crume messaged me to recommend the book Grace for the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman, it didn’t take much more than the title to convince me that the book was written for me. Add to that how much I enjoy Allie’s posts over on We Are New Romantics (seriously, take a minute and go check it it out) and the fact that her recommendation stemmed from a post of mine on dealing with shame, and I ordered it immediately, bumping the title to the top of my always growing to-be-read list.

As I read it, I kept thinking of more and more of my friends who I would love to gift with a copy, so I just had to tell you all about it, too.

I’m one of those Christians without much of an outwardly messy testimony. I grew up in the church after accepting Christ at a young age. I’m a rule follower. But inwardly, I deal with shame, perfectionism, trying to please God (and people), trying to be responsible–trying, trying, trying. It’s exhausting.

But then I hear Jesus say, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 KJV

So which is true? All my striving or Jesus’s promises? Or maybe it’s a mix of the two, and once I try hard enough, I’ll find the rest he promised.

Um, no. Jesus’s promises are true, and He has grace for the good girl who is exhausting herself with trying so hard only to keep failing. Grace for the Good Girl is a journey toward learning to rest in my Savior. It has uncovered some of the sneaky, outwardly good-looking lies I’ve lived by and invited me to trust Jesus instead.

I won’t try to rewrite the whole book for you here, but I did do a guest post on Jerusha Agen’s Fear Warrior Blog earlier this week explaining one situation in which truth I found in Grace for the Good Girl (which of course ultimately came from the Bible) helped me overcome fear to make an important decision. You can read that post here.

If you’re interested in checking out Grace for the Good Girl, which I can’t recommend highly enough, you can do so here .

What books–fiction or non-fiction–have changed the way you think about your faith lately? Any recommendations?

Grace for the Good Girl by @emilypfreeman – just what I needed to read! Here’s why via @novelwritergirl