5 Books That Spark Spiritual Growth for the Holistic Christian

These five Christian spiritual growth books focus on intentionally creating a holistic Christian life. Seeing things in wholes and inviting God into the entirety of our life is what we’re all about around here! When we surrender to God in full, rather than parceling ourselves out, we become more spiritually grounded and feel more supported in every aspect of life.

Though accepting God in full seems an instinctive step in spiritual growth, finding trusted resources isn’t always easy. Here are five spiritual growth books that will get you thinking deeper, asking bigger questions and surrendering in full to find holistic transformation.

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5 Spiritual Growth Books for the Holistic Christian

Let’s go ahead and start with the most controversial item on the Spiritual Growth Books for Holistic Christianity list. The Universal Christ sparks thinking outside the Sunday School box. Feeling safe enough in my relationship with God to contemplate and wonder and prayerfully ask big questions is something my spiritual education lacked when growing up. God met me on so many pages of this tender read which looks at Christ from Creation forward, rather than limiting our view to the 33 years spent on Earth as Jesus. Not trading one for the other, but broadening the perspective to take in the big picture.

Drawing on scripture, history, and spiritual practice, Rohr articulates a transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world. “God loves things by becoming them,” he writes, and Jesus’s life was meant to declare that humanity has never been separate from God—except by its own negative choice. When we recover this fundamental truth, faith becomes less about proving Jesus was God, and more about learning to recognize the Creator’s presence all around us, and in everyone we meet.

Thought-provoking, practical, and full of deep hope and vision, The Universal Christ is a landmark book from one of our most beloved spiritual writers, and an invitation to contemplate how God liberates and loves all that is.

 

Stages of the Soul is about making tangible spiritual progress. It’s about truly understanding that you are deeply loved. Nancy Kane walks you through five stages of the soul’s journey toward embracing God’s love. As you learn about each stage you’ll be able to understand where you are now in the process of Christian spiritual growth, understand the role of pain and suffering in your life, and experience God’s love in the radically deep way you were designed to experience it.

Imagine loving God in a way that fills you up from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed. Imagine having Christ’s love for the world flow out of your heart without insecurity, anxiety, or selfishness getting in the way. That is what this book is all about: radically deeper love. This book will help you see more clearly how the Lord tenderly guides us to greater wholeness, holiness, and love.

 

The ancient symbol of the Enneagram has become one of today’s most popular systems for self-understanding, based on nine distinct personality types. Now, two of the world’s foremost Enneagram authorities introduce a powerful new way to use the Enneagram as a tool for personal transformation and development. Whatever your spiritual background, the Enneagram shows how you can overcome your inner barriers, realize your unique gifts and strengths, and discover your deepest direction in life.

The Wisdom of the Enneagram includes two highly accurate questionnaires for determining your type, as well as vivid individual profiles focused on maximizing each type’s potential and minimizing predictable pitfalls. You’ll find Spiritual Jump Starts, Wake-Up Calls, and Red Flags for each type helpful in your Christian spiritual growth. Dozens of individualized exercises and practical strategies help with letting go of troublesome habits, improving relationships, and increasing inner freedom. Revealing insights into the deepest motivations, fears, and desires of each type are also used to spark spiritual growth spurts.

Highly accessible, yet filled with sophisticated concepts and techniques found nowhere else, The Wisdom of the Enneagram is a strikingly new fusion of psychology and spirituality. It offers an exciting vision of human possibility and a clear map of the nine paths to our highest self-expression.

Already have the basics of the Enneagram down? You may enjoy The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective from Richard Rohr and Andreas Ebbert as your next read!

 

Maybe it’s the cover art that calls to me as a mom, or that the subtitle echoes “seeking sacred in everyday routines”, our tagline here at Holistic Faith Lifestyle, but Liturgy of the Ordinary certainly resonates with me!

In the overlooked moments and routines of our day, we can become aware of God’s presence in surprising ways. How do we embrace the sacred in the ordinary and the ordinary in the sacred? Framed around one ordinary day, this book explores daily life through the lens of liturgy, small practices, and habits that form us. Each chapter looks at something―making the bed, brushing her teeth, losing her keys―that the author does every day. Drawing from the diversity of her life as a campus minister, Anglican priest, friend, wife, and mother, Tish Harrison Warren opens up a practical theology of the everyday. Each activity is related to a spiritual practice as well as an aspect of our Sunday worship. Come and discover the holiness of your every day.

 

 

Our fast-paced lives are filled with distractions, frequently leaving us disillusioned and dissatisfied―with ourselves, with others, and even with God. Spiritual practices that used to sustain us fall short when life circumstances bring us to the limits of our self. After many years leading an international humanitarian organization, Phileena Heuertz experienced the deconstruction of her identity, worldview, and faith. Mindful Silence looks at how centering prayer, a Christian expression of mindfulness, was a crucial remedy for Phileena’s fragmented condition, offering a more peace-filled and purposeful life.

The hallmarks of contemplative spirituality―solitude, silence, and stillness―have never been more important for our society: In solitude, we develop the capacity to be present. In silence, we cultivate the ability to listen. In stillness, we acquire the skill of self-control.

Contemplative prayer helps us discern the voice of God, uncover our true self, and live a life of meaning and purpose. Filled with insights and wisdom from personal experiences, Phileena introduces us to themes and teachers of contemplative spirituality, as well as several prayer practices, and invites us to greater healing and wholeness by learning to practice faith through prayer. This is an opportunity to go deeper with God―to experience the Divine and be transformed.

 

holistic christianity resources for spiritual growth

It is important for us to remember God wants every good thing for us. Finding community and resources to aid our spiritual stretching is something to celebrate! Spiritual growth spurt, here we come!

While you’re here, take a look at Holistic Faith Lifestyle’s most popular posts on spiritual wholeness: How to Make Your Mind, Body and Spirit Work Together, What is Being Grounded? The Jesus Follower’s Guide, and 6 Ways Surrender Leads to Holistic Transformation. If you have other books for spiritual growth that have been helpful in your quest for holistic Christianity, I’d love to hear from you!

Though none of us can fully fathom the great expanse of God, these resources will encourage you to stretch in your faith and understand God on a more personal level.