Struggles by Craig Groeschel, A Review

Struggles. We live in a social world. A world where we post everything from the birth of our children to what we ate last night and the latté art from our local coffee house. This is ok. It’s a form of how we connect as a people. It can’t replace a true human connection or face to face conversation, but social media has created ways for us to connect with friends from days gone by.

However, social media can have a way of drawing all the attention toward ourselves. We post a bit of quick wit on twitter and wait for the favorites and retweets. We take 5 selfies to get just the right shot of ourselves and then place a filter on it and a vignette and color fade before posting our “Just woke up.” selfie on Instagram – only to wait for the likes to send our phones into a vibrating notification seizure fit. We live for Periscope hearts and Vine loops. Welive to know that people like us. We want to feel accepted by a world of people who are also longing to feel accepted and liked.

Craig Groeschel’s new book #Struggles is based on a sermon series by the same name. The focus of the book is to help us balance the tensions of social media with the call of Jesus for us to deny ourselves. In our pursuit of following Christ we hope to make ourselves less by making Jesus more. We want to pull the focus and light off ourselves and onto Jesus. Even in the realm of social media we have to be careful with this. Posting a stylized scripture image and waiting for the likes could reveal a deeper heart issue that we want people to like that we posted a passage of scripture more than we wanted people to be edified by reading that passage.

Ultimately we must remember that we were created not to attract likes but to show love. We were created to show love to God and to show His love to others. This begins by putting down the phone and fixing our eyes on Jesus rather than our screens. It begins by getting involved in our communities, forming relationships in person and investing more in people than in social likes. #struggles is an insightful look and a modern tension.

Struggles Book Description

We all love the benefits of technology and social media, but even with the incredible upsides, many of us suspect there are unintended negative consequences that are beyond our control. We’ve lost perspective, even perhaps ourselves.

In this timely and life-changing new book, New York Times bestselling author and pastor of LifeChurch.tv Craig Groeschel encourages readers who are hungry to regain control over their lives and put Christ first again. He walks them through biblical values that all Christ followers know are essential, but are even more important for our maxed out, selfie-centered world.

The more you compare, the less satisfied you are. The more we interact online, the more we crave face to face intimacy, but the harder it is to find. The more filtered our lives become, the more challenging it is to be authentic. The more information about the pain in the world we’re exposed to the more difficult it is to care.

It’s time to refresh and rediscover our understanding of the biblical principles that life with Christ brings: contentment, intimacy, authenticity, compassion, rest and more. Groeschel taps in to some of the most up-to-date studies on the effects of social media on our emotions and our friendships. And he offers real-life examples of how we struggle with social media, how it masks our real struggles, and how we can reclaim a Christ-centered life.

With helpful appendices like the 10 Commandments of Using Social Media to Strengthen Your Faith, and Creating Safeguards for Your Digital Devices, you’ll find #Struggles to be just the guide to bring balance and real-life engagement to your everyday life.

Links Related to Struggles by Groeschel

• Book Website: #Struggles
• Life.Church: #Struggles
• Christian Book: Struggles Book
• Bible.com: #Struggles Reading Plan