5 Compelling Reasons to Read

If you've spent much time around here, you know that I am a big fan of books. Since childhood I've been an avid reader. In my current season of life I try to read novels few and far between, because once the story has sucked me in my children get slightly neglected and my housework seriously suffers until I have steam-rolled through to the end. Can anyone else relate to that?!?

Lighthearted entertainment aside, I firmly believe that Christian people ought to be reading people. Here are a few reasons why.

1. God chose to speak to us through the written word. Of all the ways that the infinite, holy, and eternal God could choose to speak to His people, after the Prophets and His Son, He gave us a Book. If you could care less about any other book, please at the very least be a person of The Book. Plant yourself in it, meditate on it, memorize it. God was very gracious to give it to us. He has prioritized it, and so should we.

2. Reading develops empathy. Studies have shown that people who read literary fiction are more empathetic than people who do not. Why? Simply because connecting with characters in a good novel allows you to see into the mind and emotions of someone other than yourself, experiencing situations you are not personally familiar with.

Christians of all people ought to be empathetic- we know that we are sinners, saved only by the grace of God, and this levels the playing field for all people, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" {Romans 3:23}.

3. Reading keeps your mind sharp. It expands your vocabulary, develops your abilities to articulate your thoughts more clearly and convincingly, and is a good way to steward the amazing gift that God has given you in your brain.

4. Reading informs. It fills you in on all areas and aspects of life. Being well-read ensures that you will always have something to talk about in social settings, or some piece of helpful information to pass on to others. It can improve your relationships, your work, and your understanding of the world around you.

5. Reading can change your life. "You will be the same person in five years you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read" {Charlie Tremendous Jones}. This is so. very. true. I can look back over how I have personally changed in the past year and pinpoint the exact titles of the books that informed those changes.

I want to grow primarily in the grace and knowledge of God. I also want to grow in my understanding of others, in my work as a wife and mother and home keeper, and my level of knowledge in general. Thus I am, and will continue to be, committed to reading.