Nothing to Prove by Jennie Allen

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Product Details

Why we can stop trying so hard.

This was a good book. I know that can be a bit of a cliche as I say that about a lot of books and I mean it about a lot of books. So what makes this book a good book? This simple takeaway. "I am not enough." That is a simple sentence, only four words, but terrifying in it's meaning. We live in a culture where you have to be enough. You need to be the best, you need to accomplish things. You need to be skinny and beautiful and rich and successful and on and on and on. And that's a hard load to carry. But if can believe and live out that sentence that "I am not enough" and if we can claim Jesus' blood and His help to be enough for us, our lives will be radically changed. We don't have to join the rat race of success-driven people who must, must, must perform. We can step back and "stop doing things for God, and start doing things with Him." God is enough and He can take the weight off your shoulders, the backpack as Jennie describes it and you can walk free with Him.

A few quotes from the book, "When you have nothing to protect and nothing to prove, God moves through you."

"When you have nothing to protect and nothing to prove, you know freedom."

"We are not defined by our worst or our best; we are defined by our God."

"Our confidence comes from believing God can do anything, then stepping back and letting Him."

Jennie offers seven streams of God's Enoughness: fulfillment, connection, rest, risk, hope, grace and calling. God is enough for whatever we have to face in life and we can rest in that.

My only mild complaint about the book is that I have an uncorrected proof, which isn't a problem, but there were some grammatical errors in the book. I am guessing these will be fixed before the final printing, but it did disturb the flow a little at times.

I received this book from Blogging for Books and was not required to write a positive review.

By the way, Jennie is the found of IF:Gathering "which exists to gather, equip, and unleash the next generation to live out their purpose." I saw there will be an IF: Gathering in the small town where we live on February 3 and 4. I think this might be a televised thing from the main gathering, but I don't know that for sure.

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