Keep It Light: The Freedom of Priorities in Life, Work, and Love

by Joel Malm

We all have burdens to carry in life–reasonable responsibilities that give life meaning. But if the burden of life feels too heavy to handle, there’s a good chance you’re carrying something you weren’t meant to carry alone.

Overwhelmed? Tired? Feel like you can’t keep up? Jesus promises that His burden is light, but how many of us are actually feeling, well … light? If life is like a long hike, most of us feel like we have a giant backpack of responsibilities and burdens that weigh us down and take the joy out of living. But Jesus offers another way.

Keep It Light will help

Make a stewardship plan to make sure what God values is your highest priority.

192 pages, Paperback

Published May 21, 2024

Reviews

[Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life can be too full sometimes. Our to-do list overflows with numerous tasks, meetings, routines, and even the relationship times we want to have--til just looking at the list is exhausting. It can be so hard to pare down, to understand what we don't have to be doing, and to learn how to say no. All good ideas--but how do we do them?

Joël Malm has the understanding of how to pare down. His exceptional, highly readable book "Keep It Light" takes readers through 7 values that we can use to examine our overly-full lives and schedules. These values include priorities, focus, responsibility, margin, boundaries, self-discovery, and consistency. In each chapter (following the titular introductory one), he leads readers through a definition of each of these values, then through how they can their lives through those lenses. These chapters are fascinating, fun to read, and full of the freedom we can learn to live in.

I love how Joël ties all of these to God's original purposes for each individual's life. We're not all made to do the same thing, nor are we wired the same way. He lists Jesus's words from Matthew 11:28-30 as something we can all lean into, though: "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Isn't that a beautiful way to live? And something I want to embrace myself. I so appreciate Malm's book as a tool to make this a practice, more and more.

I received a copy of this book from The Book Pod. All opinions and thoughts shared here are my own honest ones.

[Georgette Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome and inspiration read!