Humble Roots came as a recommendation from @jenwilkin in my review of her book last month, and it did not disappoint! As my wife I am sure would tell you, I could always use a dose of humility. Humble Roots was more than just a book on humility though. It was a book on finding rest. It was a call to worship Jesus and to behold Him as God.
I read this book over the course of two days. There is a lot more for me to process though and it definitely deserves a reread. Honestly, I loved this book. It was totally amazing. There were multiple different points that I found important, but I cannot put all of them here. Here are a couple of them:
First, as noted in the book, the goal of the book is to show that pride is the primary cause of restlessness and that humility is the antidote. In so many ways, pride undercuts our ability to rest. I constantly feel like I need to be accomplishing things. Anything! Start with the small things and end with the bigger and better things. But an important part of life is to understand that I can’t accomplish everything. More still, I must understand that all my striving and accomplishing cannot save a me. The only way for me to find rest and safety is to let go and to trust Jesus with my successes and accomplishments. And when I fail, I must remember that the biggest failures are the best opportunities to remember that Jesus is better.
Second, I loved how humility was described. Anderson’s definition of humility is “a proper understanding of who God is and who we are as a result.” (pg. 103) Notice that it is not described by action, but understanding. Humility does not come from learning how to act a certain way; it comes from learning who deserves our worship. Anderson claims that “we are not called to be Jesus, but we are called to fall at His feet and worship Him.” Once we learn that He is deserving of our worship, it is then finally that we can find rest. “When we are consumed with God’s glory, we forget to worry about our own.”
Humble Roots gets a 5/5 for me. It was truly nourishment for my soul.