Book Review: Spiritually Stronger in 40 Days by Serge Roux-Levrat

Spiritually Stronger in 40 Days by Serge Roux-Levrat challenges you to spend the next 40 days focusing on your spiritual growth. For each day, there is a short devotional thought, followed by that day's "homework."

I was excited to have the chance to review this book. Growing spiritually stronger is something many of us strive toward, and the description of this book really spoke to me.

One thing I found frustrating (not the book's fault) was that the review period for this book was only 3 weeks. The introduction to the book clearly stated that, to get maximum benefit from this book, a person should not "double up" or read ahead. So, I had to make a decision to use the book as intended, but write my review after only reading half of the book, or to ignore the author's intent and read the book straight through. I opted to follow the author's instructions and now I'm writing a review after reading only half of the book, was it the right decision? I don't know. . . 

There is something about this book that makes me uncomfortable and I can't completely put my finger on it. Perhaps the things confusing me will all fall together as the book wraps up. If that happens I will certainly post an updated review. One thing that bothers me, many of the devotional thoughts have little, if any actual scripture. Often the author simply tells me what God wants, without providing references. With so many false or conflicting teachings floating around in Christianity, I am always hesitant about anything that doesn't back beliefs with scripture.

The other thing I am really struggling with is the "homework". As far as I can tell, it doesn't build on itself, and some days are VERY involved. For example, one day was to determine your spiritual gifts by asking several trusted friends what they are, develop a plan to use those gifts going forward and implement tha plan. That is ONE day, needless to say, I can't drop everything for a day to do this. Not all days are this involved but still, it all feels extremely time intensive to me. 

At this season of my life I need spiritual resources that point me strongly to God and the Bible, and can be adapted to the time constraints inherent in the life God has blessed me with. This book doesn't meet those criteria. I encourage you to read other reviews to get other perspectives before deciding whether or not to choose this book.

Disclosure:  I received a free copy of this ebooktto review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.