Gentle and Lowly: Discovering the Compassionate Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers

krobbins: This is a very special book for any believer, especially one who feels he or she has "missed the mark." Ortlund uses scripture to show us that Christ is with us in our struggles and defeats; that this is precisely where He stands ready to meet us with His divine grace and compassion.

United States on Jan 28, 2024

Chad Hudson: I perused my Kindle library a few days ago looking for my next read. I skipped over this a few times, but it kept popping back up, almost as if jumping off the screen yelling, “read me!”

I will likely read this 2 or 3 more times this year.

I have written a few paragraphs as an encouragement to read this, then deleted them. Simply read this book. I think you will find it helpful as I did.

It is an excellent book, well written, and one of few that after reading in the morning I continued to think through during the day.

United States on Jan 05, 2024

Tamara M. Brown: I love this book and the author. I have read it more than once and even recommended to others. The author
has such a wonderful way of describing the relationship we need with Jesus and what it really means. I found that I had many misconceptions about God, due to my own negative beliefs. Yes, God is Almighty and will judge all the earth, but He also loves us! I had so much difficulty accepting this until I read this book and continued reading my scripture! Now I know that my relationship with God, with Jesus and Holy Spirit is the most important, beautiful, and wonderful thing that my Lord wants with me and all His beautiful children. I highly recommend this book and others from this wonderful author.

United States on Dec 28, 2023

Lucas Oliveira Vianna: In order to answer the question of "What is Jesus' heart like?", Dane Ortlund managed to weave together all the best and most endearing puritan reflections, all the while backing it up with a constant recourse to Scripture through careful, thorough exegesis. I am not a big reader of devotional books, I would generally go to Scripture itself, but this one completely surpassed my expectations and touched my heart like few others did, because it is simply Scripture and puritan theology distilled into an easy to read book, focused on knowing the heart of our Saviour and written in contemporary language. Easily my favourite devotional book.

Brazil on Aug 03, 2023

KathKath: I've barely read 3 chapters, and I've been given a deeper sense of the love and kindness of Jesus than I've ever known. Dane is incredibly faithful to Scripture, which is paramount, and thus increases my joy and happiness at serving such a Saviour. I recommend this book for every Christian, no matter where they are, for they will love their Lord even more and rejoice over Him in every page. My only criticism is a spelling error in a direct Scripture quote, which misconstrues the meaning a bit, but those of us who know our Bibles will catch it 😉

Canada on Jan 22, 2023

Fabian Umbach: Lange habe ich kein Buch mehr gelesen, in dem ich so neu über unseren Jesus ins Staunen versetzt worden bin. Über sein Wesen, wer er ist und wie er uns Sündern und gebrochen Menschen begegnen will.

Gerade die kurzen aber kompakten Kapitel lassen sich gut lesen, eins pro Tag bietet genug Inhalt zum Nachdenken. Jeweils passend zum Hauptvers aus der Bibel bringt Ortlund in einem Kapitel vielerlei Zitate von den Puritanern, die gerade für ihre Jesusliebe und das Gebet bekannt sind.

Warum ist das Buch so ein Erfolg? Weil Ortlund wohl eine Seite an Jesus betont, die eher zu kurz kommt, in unseren Gemeinden und in unserem Reden über ihn.
Aber überzeugt euch selbst. Wärmste Empfehlung!

Germany on Jan 06, 2023

BookLoverAmanda: Wow, what an amazing book dedicated to the heart of Jesus. I read this throughout the month of June and each time I picked it up, I grew in faith in the Lord. I was encouraged, reminded, comforted and sometimes convicted.

Make sure you check out the YouTube Live Shows on Krista's Channel, BooksAndJams for more in depth discussions! I am so thankful to have joined some of the live show discussions with her and other lovely ladies this month. My channel name is BookLoverAmanda.

This book dives deep into the heart of Christ and how he views us. He is gentle and lowly in heart. This book beautifully explains this in each chapter and provides some great historical background from the Puritans.

What I was reminded of:

• We often minimize our sin, we don’t have a good understanding of it because we have a sinful nature. God shows us His ultimate grace and Christ’s heart is drawn to us. Romans 5:20 “Where sin increased, Grace abounded all the more.”

• Christ intercedes for us and he will never cast out.

• He is an advocate for us. I resonated with this so much because my son has Autism and I have been struggling...

United States on Jun 26, 2022

Jubin Kurian Varghese: As the author says in the Introduction, this is a book for normal Christians, that is, those who are “the discouraged, the frustrated, the weary, the disenchanted, the cynical, the empty. Those running on fumes.”

This one is surely to uplift and encourage you in your walk with Christ. Highly recommended.

India on Sep 06, 2021

Andy C: I am really enjoying reading this book. Its like a really good meal - something you just want to savour. I'm in no rush to finish it. On every page I feel the wind of the Spirit blowing through and drawing me deep into greater glimpses of this Wonderful King who so freely and happily pours Himself out for us all. The author has done his research and pulls in authors from many hundreds of years ago to help paint his mesmerizing picture of the kindness and humility of God. Someone in one of the reviews mentioned that this could easily become a classic. The more I read the more I am inclined to agree with them. It really is a great journey, and likely one I will read again and again in the years to come.

There have been times reading this book when I've found myself wondering if I really dare to believe that God is this good. And yet I have been deep-diving into the love of God for the past ten years, reading many a great book, hearing many an inspiring speaker. Yet that's how good this book is - it takes many of us beyond even the high places of our familiar understanding of God's love and challenges us to a different way of seeing Him that is well beyond...

United Kingdom on Mar 21, 2021

Joel E. Mitchell: People who grew up in a certain kind of church soaked in the message of “Try harder to do better because God might have deigned to save you, but he doesn’t really like you that much.” They live under constant pressure to earn God’s love and approval with a constant sinking feeling of failing to do so (even while professing a belief in his mercy and grace). This book destroys such a disapproving, aloof image of our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus described himself as “gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29), and in 23 short chapters Ortlund (with the help of various Puritan theologians) explores many facets of his compassionate character. We are reminded what it means when we say that Jesus “loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). These pages offer a beautiful, soul-refreshing description of the believer’s loving relationship with the One who “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3). This is not lightweight downplaying of God’s other attributes so we can focus on his love drivel, but biblically grounded praise of the One who is perfectly just and righteous...

United States on Jan 28, 2021