Review: Gentle and Lowly by Dane C. Ortlund

the sweep of the New Testament teaching is that it is the sun of Christ's heart, not the cloud of my sins, that now defines me.

I was encouraged to read this by my dad. I found it lovely both inside and out. I struggle with what Ortlund graciously calls “law-ishness…” an inordinate focus on my own works and worthiness. Mr. Ortlund redirecting my gaze towards the heart of Christ, a heart brimming with compassion that runs towards the sinner¹, has been a blessing.

I found the book’s style to be patterned after its title. It is very readable and re-visitable. Even the breakdown of Greek words is poetic and joyful rather than academic and snobby. It has a puritan-esque² feeling to it in that way.

I found myself inspired and convicted in equal measure. I did not find it to be inordinately "grace-oriented" or ignoring the importance of God's justice and holiness. I thought it handled the divine dichotomy well. I’ll gladly revisit it again in a book study or in my future study of Christ’s character… and have been doing so regularly since I put the book down.