A Life of Distinction: What It Takes to Live with Courage, Honesty, and Gratitude

by Lewis B. Smedes

God calls ordinary people to become people of superior character–even while he calls us to be deeply human. In A Life of Distinction, respected author Lewis B. Smedes shows what it means to be a man or woman of character and teaches readers how, with God’s help, they can achieve that goal–becoming exactly the kind of person they have always longed to be.

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 19, 2002

About the author

Lewis Benedictus Smedes (1921 — December 19, 2002) was a renowned Christian author, ethicist, and theologian in the Reformed tradition. He was a professor of theology and ethics for twenty-five years at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. His 15 books, including the popular Forgive and Forget, covered some important issues including sexuality and forgiveness.

Lewis Benedictus Smedes was born in 1921, the youngest of five children. His father, Melle Smedes, and mother, Rena (Benedictus), emigrated to the United States from Oostermeer, Friesland in the Netherlands. (Rena's name before being changed by the officials at Ellis Island was Renske.) When he was two-months-old, his father died in the partially completed house he built in Muskegon, Michigan. He married Doris Dekker. He died after falling from a ladder at his home in Sierra Madre, California on December 19, 2002. He was survived by his wife, three children, two grandchildren and one brother.

In addition to many articles, Smedes wrote many popular books including:

* Forgive & Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve, Harper, 1984
* A Pretty Good Person What it Takes to Live with Courage, Gratitude, & Integrity or When Pretty Good Is as Good as You Can Be, Harper, 1990
* Standing on the Promises
* Choices: Making Right Decisions in a Complex World
* How Can It Be All Right When Everything Is All Wrong?
* Caring & Commitment: Learning to Live the Love We Promise
* The Incarnation in Modern Anglo-Catholic Theology
* All Things Made New
* Love Within Limits
* Sex for Christians
* Mere Morality: What God Expects From Ordinary People
* A Life of Distinction
* The Art of Forgiving
* Shame and Grace: Healing the Shame We Don't Deserve
* Keeping Hope Alive
* My God and I, a Spiritual Memoir, Eerdmans, 2003

Reviews

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was okay, but perhaps a bit dated. It was originally released in 1990 under the title A Pretty Good Person. The ideas are decent, but writing style and examples can be updated. The basic idea is that to be "a pretty good person", one should live with integrity, gratitude, fairness, courage, purpose and love. A chapter is assigned to each virtue and Smedes mixes personal examples into his thoughts. The sections are also divided into readable chunks. Today, there are probably more engaging books on the topic.