Life Changing Books #1

I'd like to highlight the books that have been instrumental in my life lived for Christ. I'm very thankful for each of these books and their authors as God has used each of them to influence me and shape me for His glory. I'll highlight one every so often and attempt to stay as close as possible to the order in which I read them but it has been a journey over the past 10 years so the order is a bit vague.  

The first book I can recall is "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands." This book was the first time I was encountered with the concept of "people in need of change helping people in need of change." Now for me, before this book it was just about helping people with no other motive than to 'build the church' and I'm not sure I knew what that truly meant and looked like. (Disclaimer: in no way do I claim to have the 'build the church' concept figured out but believe I am now headed more in the right direction as a partial result of this book) Instruments takes you on a journey of self-examination and how to discover where change is needed in my heart and life and then how the church body can each benefit from our heart changes. At the time I was reading this book I believe I desired to serve others and the church but the only way I knew how was functionally through practical deeds and church programs/events and it was probably performed with a selfish motive of being noticed. To say the absolute least, my one another(ing) needed some work starting with my own heart. Paul David Tripp by God's grace is a masterful teacher about heart issues using practical illustrations and phrases while still being true to the Scriptures. He labels our hearts as 'the command center' of who we are. It controls all that we think and say and do (Luke 6:43-45; Proverbs 4:23). Now, I'm not sure if this was a new concept to me but it was the first time that it stuck with me and changed my life. I was also hearing this same kind of teaching coming from my professors in seminary and it was life changing and impacted my entire worldview. God used this book to truly begin teaching me about matters of the heart and how to view life and others through the lens of the Gospel.