Book Review: The Practice of Godliness

Over the past year or so, I have been on a Jerry Bridges kick.  He writes in an understandable, practical way sharing examples from his own life and the life of others to highlight biblical truths.  For Christmas, my wife bought me 4 Jerry Bridges books and the first one that I chose was The Practice of Godliness (1996). 

This book was essentially an exposition on the fruits of the spirit.  In his preface (p. 9), he wrote "The Pursuit of Holiness (another excellent book) dealt largely with putting off the old self--dealing with the sin in our lives.  The Practice of Godliness focuses on putting on the new self--growing in Christian Character."  It seems to me that so many of Bridges work well together, building a strong structure by focusing on different elements of the Christian faith. 

Bridges grounds the establishment of several elements of character in devotion to God, which consists of three aspects: the fear of God, the love of God, and the desire for God.  He also talks about the importance of "training yourself to be godly" (1 Tim 4:7), but as is characteristic of him, he balances this pursuit of godliness with a deep understanding of grace.  It seems to me that it is so often characteristic of modern theology to either completely set aside any striving for holiness or make a pursuit of holiness a necessary requisite of salvation.  Bridges always seems to get the balance close to right. 

The later half of the book focuses on elements of Christian character: humility, contentment, thankfulness, joy, holiness, self-control, faithfulness, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness & goodness, and love.  For each of these, he discusses their biblical importance and then suggests ways in which to grow in each element.

I would happily suggest this book.  Feel free to read it along with: The Pursuit of Holiness, Transforming Grace, the Transforming Power of the Gospel, The Discipline of Grace...really any of Bridges's books.