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2018 Intentional By Grace Reading Challenge

Do you love to read? Do you want to grow in Christian maturity this year? Then I’ve got something for you – the 2018 Intentional By Grace Reading Challenge.

I put together a reading challenge in 2015 which was surprisingly popular. Many of you have been asking for another one since then.

Last year I participated in Tim Challies’ Reading Challenge. (You can see how I ended the year here.) I plan to partcipate in his 2018 reading challenge this year. (You can see this year’s reading challenge here.)

I really enjoy the bigger challenges, but the larger reading challenges aren’t for everyone.

Plus there are some specific book categories that I want to make sure to cover this year.

Therefore, I decided to put together a list of categories I wanted to read, and behold the 2018 Intentional By Grace Reading Challenge was born.

How it Works

The 2018 Intentional By Grace Reading Challenge is composed of 13 book categories which breaks down to reading 1 book every 4 weeks.

All you need to do is download the list and start reading!

Here are the categories:

  • a biography
  • a book about prayer
  • a book about worship
  • a book about Christian living
  • a book about the Holy Spirit
  • a book about the Cross
  • a Christian classic
  • a book about discipleship
  • a book about Church history
  • a book about holiness
  • a book about evangelism
  • a book about relationships
  • a book of your choice

Download the 2018 Intentional By Grace Reading here. 

Book Suggestions for Each Category:

By the way, I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. You can see my full disclosure policy here.

A biography:

A book about prayer:

A book about worship:

A book about Christian living:

A book about the Holy Spirit:

A book about the Cross:

A Christian classic:

A book about discipleship:

A book about Church history:

A book about holiness:

A book about evangelism:

A book about relationships:

A book of your choice:

Reading for the Purpose of Godliness

In his book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney explains how learning is a discipline, a discipline Christians should take seriously.

He says (my emphasis added in bold):

“Those who are not trying to learn will only get spiritual and biblical knowledge by accident or convenience. Occasionally they will hear a biblical fact or principle from someone else and profit from it. Once in a while they will get a brief burst of interest in a subject. But this is not the way to Godliness. The Discipline of learning helps us to be intentional learners, not accidental learners” (page 229).

This is why I like reading challenges. They help me discipline myself to read for the purpose of Godliness, and have some fun doing it.

Good books about God should never replace our intake of God’s Word. But good books can help us be intentional learners as we pursue godliness for the glory of God.

Growth in godliness requires a renewal of the mind and this cannot happen without intentional learning – the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge in the things of God.

Books can play a big role in our spiritual lives. It is my prayer that this reading challenge will stretch your mind, encourage your heart, and help discipline you for the purpose of godliness.

Download the 2018 Intentional By Grace Reading here. 

Don’t forget to sign up for the Intentional By Grace newsletter.

Throughout the year, I’ll be sharing about my progress in the reading challenge, what books I’ve enjoyed and not enjoyed, as well as sharing deals and freebies to help encourage your reading life.

My goal at Intentional By Grace is to equip you with the tools and inspiration necessary to live gospel-motivated lives for Him.

Click here to sign up for the Intentional By Grace newsletter or pop your email into the box below.

I look forward to sharing this reading year with you! I would love to hear from you in the comments! What books do you recommend we add to our lists this year?

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3 Comments

  1. I love this and am excited to do all I can. I love to read but never thought of breaking it down like this before. Thanks so much for sharing!

  2. I love these categories with the goal of growing in the Lord! Thanks for sharing this list. Looking forward to reading this year.