The Simple Secret: Choosing Love in a Culture of Hostility

by Joshua Graves

Jesus' understanding of love separates him from many of the great religious leaders in world history. Jesus believed it was possible to love every person we children, partners, friends, strangers, the vulnerable, the poor, enemies, and planet Earth itself. The meaning of life is not mysterious after all. According to Jesus, the purpose of our existence is to love and be loved. When we take our last breath, our life will be measured by the love we gave to each person we encountered. The secret of life, it turns out, is not a secret at all.

213 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2023

Reviews

[James Hallmark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to stop reading “preacher books.” I’ve said that to a few friends and think I may be on to something. This isn’t a “bad” book, it just is a book that probably didn’t need to be written. We used this book for our book discussion class at church (just finished discussion on it last night). It was a good book for discussion; in fact, I'd say the discussion was better than the book. A very bright and articulate person in the class said she felt like she was reading a collection of sermons. I hadn’t thought about it until she said it, but it was spot on. I would also guess that the people who most need to read this book (those perpetuating the culture of hostility) aren’t going to read it. Anyway, the book goes through chapters that are logical subjects for a book on love: spouse, children, strangers, the poor, our enemies, etc. As a stand-alone book, I don’t know what you would learn from reading this book. As a discussion aid, it was quite good. So, there ya go.