Here's a true story. My bookshelf used to be very well stocked with self-improvement books. I've got a bunch of them, ranging from positive-thinking books to financial planning "prosperity" books, and an assorted range in between. If there was any new self-improvement book out there that got rave reviews, I wanted to get my hands on it.
I believe my intentions were genuine. I realize then, as I do today, that life is very very short; I wanted to find out exactly the "best" way to live life before it's too late. I don't want to be the old man who looked back at his life near the end of his days, and say, "I've wasted it all." Therefore I immersed myself into self-improvement books, thinking that I will somehow gather the secret to healthy and wealthy living for the rest of my life.
But here's the reality today: you can take all my self-improvement books away.. you can steal them and throw them away or burn them -- I don't care. But just make sure you leave one single book behind. My Bible.
Over the years I have come to realize what a waste of time self-improvement books are. I think their biggest fallacy is that they promote the glorification of self rather than God. They appeal to sinful pride and prosperity.. saying, "if this is what YOU want, here's how YOU get it!" It's "self"-improvement after all. No wonder they appealed to me.. I was a hopeless and rotten sinner then, and I am attracted to sin (today, I've made a little progress in this area, but I've still got a long way to go before I'm truly like Christ).
A lot of the problems with self-improvement books result because they hold a worldly worldview rather than a biblical worldview. Let's take financial planning books, for example. Here's what they say: once you get your salary, pay yourself first (i.e. save), then pay everything else later. Its intention is good, but still falls short of biblical standards. The Bible says, pay GOD first (i.e. tithe), and then save/spend the rest in a God-glorifying way. If possible, give even more to God. Another example from financial planning: Prepare a nest egg for retirement. Saving is fine, but nowhere in the Bible can you find a concept of retirement (think about it -- why would God want you to spend the last years of your life bumming around doing nothing? Those are great years to serve God!).
Because of this clash of views, I've read more than one financial planning book, and even one written by a so-called Christian, who "bash" preachers for, well, preaching God's Word about the biblical act of tithing. How sad. What they don't realize is that earthly life is short but after that we will live eternally -- and the way we spend eternity is determined by how we spent life on earth! And then there are other books that promote tapping into the subconscious, like one which advocates meditating that you're in a meeting with past great men like Lincoln and imagining that they're "advising" you about your goals and life. I'm serious. Because I want the readers of this blog to avoid that book like the plague, I won't even mention its title here.
So, what's the alternative? My suggestion is, dive into God's Word and immerse yourself in it. Why settle for human wisdom when you can tap directly into the wisdom of the One who made humans? Study God's Word regularly and meditate on it. After all, the purpose of life is ultimately to glorify God -- and His Word shows us exactly how to do that. Not only until we discover this truth will we seek God and give Him the glory that He deserves, and life will never be more satisfying.
The second-best thing, I think, is to read doctrinally-sound Christian books by authors who are grounded in and living out God's Word. While these books do not have the authority of Scripture, they sure help us understand the Bible and how it applies to our lives. Here's a short list of books I highly recommend, in no particular order:
"Knowing God" by J.I. Packer
"Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper
"Money, Possessions, and Eternity" by Randy Alcorn
"The Cross-Centered Life" by C.J. Mahaney
"Humility" by C.J. Mahaney
"Systematic Theology" by Wayne Grudem
Of course, merely reading the Bible (and these books) will not help change our lives unless we actually apply them. We would benefit a whole lot more if we were to join a Bible-teaching, Bible-living church and fellowship with genuine believers who can encourage and strengthen us in our faith.
Let me end with one last point. Everyone of us, whether rich or poor, is given one single finite resource -- time. Whether we like it or not, we only have 24 hours a day. I have wasted so many hours, days, months, and years, including 9 years as a Christian, trying to figure out what's the purpose in life and how I should live it out. It was only recently that I figured out that life is all about glorifying God in the first place, and never was it about myself. So I urge you -- please, please don't waste your time like I did. Dive into God's Word -- read it, study it, obey it, apply it, live it. And give Him all the glory in everything that you do.
