book review: gentle and lowly

A book review of Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund

On a recent podcast that I was listening to, the book Gently and Lowly by Dane Ortlund was not just mentioned, but highly recommended. I decided to go ahead and check it out, and I was so glad that I did.

I’m guessing that most of us would say that Jesus loves us. We may have even sung “Jesus Loves Me” from a young age and memorized John 3:16. But deep in our heart of hearts, I would also guess that some if not most of us struggle to fully understand and embrace how deep His love is for us.

In Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers Dane Ortlund explores the words Jesus uses to describe Himself in Matthew 11:28-30. Ortlund helps his readers to understand what it means when Jesus says that He is “gently and lowly in heart”. Through this and numerous other passages he explores the amazing love, compassion and care that Jesus has for us at all times even in our sin and suffering.

Reading this book took my appreciation for God’s love for me to new depths. Ortlund’s words helped me to better understand just how much Jesus loves us and embrace it and Him in new ways. In this anxious world today, being better equipped to rest in the confidence and peace of His love for us is a sweet place to be. Gentle and Lowly helped me to do that in a better way.

Just one brief quote demonstrating the multitude of encouragement I found in this book is this: “If his grace in kindness is ‘immeasurable,’ then our failures can never outstrip his grace. Our moments of feeling utterly overwhelmed by life are where God’s heart lives. Our most haunted pockets of failure and regret are where his heart is drawn most unswervingly.”

So is this book for you? Take a look at who Ortland said he wrote this book for in his introduction:

This book is written for the discouraged, the frustrated, the weary, the disenchanted, the cynical, the empty. Those running on fumes. Those whose Christian lives feel like constantly running up a descending escalator. Those of us who find ourselves thinking: “How could I mess up that bad—again?” It is for that increasing suspicion that God’s patience with us is wearing thin. For those of us who know God loves us but suspect we have deeply disappointed him. Who have told others of the love of Christ yet wonder if—as for us—he harbors mild resentment. Who wonder if we have shipwrecked our lives beyond what can be repaired. Who are convinced we’ve permanently diminished our usefulness to the Lord. Who have been swept off our feet by perplexing pain and are wondering how we can keep living under such numbing darkness

I would say that we all find, or have found, ourselves somewhere in that description at some point and time and if you haven’t you probably will. So I would say yes this book is for you. If you want to draw closer to God, understand how He truly feels about you, or want to rest more confidently in His love for you, then I would highly recommend reading this book.


May you discern the wonder of His love in your life today!