3 Books Essential To Modern-Day Spiritual Formation

Connecting to your spirituality is one of the most powerful ways to support your well-being. Religiosity boosts your sense of purpose and helps foster connections, which can lead to a lower risk of mortality. Yet the world is full of noise and chaos, and sometimes that makes the practice of faith difficult.

Author and pastor John Mark Comer has a way forward to help you build your spiritual life and find greater peace and contentment. Check out this roundup of essential reads, and see why his bestselling books—including Practicing the Way, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, and Live No Lies—provide actionable road maps for building spirituality in the modern world.

"Who am I becoming?" and "What if I changed my life?"—these two questions are critical to evaluate the trajectory of our lives. In The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, Comer makes a case that most of us live a life of unsustainable hurry, and it's killing not just our bodies and minds but our souls. The way to become who we long to be is by eliminating the hustle and bustle of daily life in pursuit of a slower, simpler alternative. The book serves as a road map to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in a world where feeling rushed is all too common. Along with exploring the evil of busyness for your emotional and spiritual health, Comer delves into the spiritual disciplines that can help you combat hurry and become closer to God. 

We are constantly being formed by the world around us. But what is it forming us into? If your desire is to follow Jesus, then you'll need to be intentionally formed by Jesus himself. In this New York Times bestselling book, Comer delivers a practical path forward for spiritual formation and adopting a Rule of Life. This is a set of ancient practices, followed by the first Christian disciples, which opens up space in our daily lives to God so that he can transform the deepest parts of us. By breaking down the nine core practices, Comer gives us the tools to create our own Rule of Life—so we can live like Jesus even in modern times.

Comer's insightful and practical book reveals the lies we've accepted about God, ourselves, and even what counts as the "good life" to our own spiritual downfall. By recognizing the lies that plague us every day—whether from culture or false beliefs ingrained deep within ourselves—we're able to overcome the false information that steals our peace. Like Comer's other books, Live No Lies delivers cultural analysis alongside a strategic plan for our spiritual formation.