Rewire Your Heart (book review)

"Many Christians believe the only way to fight sin is to grit our teeth, strengthen our resolve, and rise above the onslaught of temptation. But in reality, we have a far better weapon in our struggle with sin than the will-power mantras associated with diet and exercise. This weapon is not saying "no" to sin but saying "yes" to God. In Rewire Your Heart, David Bowden helps us discover God's plan to overcoming sin by rewiring our desires with the Gospel. When we invite the Holy Spirit to transform our underlying affections with the good news of Jesus, we begin to break free from the patterns of sin, guilt, and determination, and discover the richer fulfillment found in joyfully obeying God's commands."

To be perfectly honest, I still haven't finished this book. It's taking me a long time to get through, because kids. But I wanted to get on here and talk about it, because this book does something that I haven't seen others do in an accessible way, and I think it does it well. The author dives into the heart work required to reorder our affections and desire holiness. He doesn't address the graces of the sacraments or the help of various Catholic devotions, but he does discuss a sortof psychological approach to sin. He looks at how the ways we talk about and think about avoiding sin do or do not address our hearts, helping us to desire Jesus more than the sin itself. He then goes on to discuss sanctification and growing in desire for God, for holiness. I think having this understanding of ourselves and our inner workings, combined with what Catholics have long known about the sacraments and devotions, would be of great help to an individual. 

Of course, there are some ideas discussed, though not recommended by the author, that do not mesh with the teachings of the Catholic church. In chapter 8, for example, the author spends some time talking about the idea of "rededication," where a Christian who has lapsed back into a life of sin is called to return to his or her faith and follow Christ again. It seems that the point made in that process is that dedicating one's life to Christ means living a sinless life from that point forward and that that somehow affirms one's salvation. To be fair, the author calls out this idea as false. But readers should be aware that the author himself does not hold a Catholic view and be careful of anything that smacks of a typical "born-again" view of salvation. Overall, however, I appreciate this book's detailed discussion of how sin works and how we can effectively battle it in this life.