A Book Called YOU

“If you truly want to become a better person, understanding why you do what you do is a key to changing what you do and how you do it. True transformation starts in the heart. Your ‘heart’ is the Bible’s term for the center of your motivations. Jesus explained in Matthew 15:19 that the source of all that’s broken, incomplete, and wrong in our lives is found in our hearts. Jeremiah adds that the problem is our hearts are deceptive (Jeremiah 17:9). We lie to ourselves more than we lie to anyone else—and that refusal to face the truth about ourselves causes problems in our relationship to both God and others. Only God knows us completely as we really are. This is why we need God’s perspective to understand ourselves. Other tools can teach us a lot about ourselves, but our understanding will always be incomplete without the perfect insights from God’s Word. That’s why I’m excited about this new book by Matt Brown. Laying a solid biblical foundation of scriptural insight, my friend Matt shows why devout Christians have used the Enneagram for centuries as a tool to grow in Christlike discipleship. For ages, saints have used this simple construct to help themselves and others understand how God has uniquely shaped each of us for a special purpose and the pitfalls that accompany every strength. This book is going to help you a lot! At the beginning of his famous theological masterpiece The Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin wrote these words: ‘Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves.’ Calvin went on to explain that we can’t really know ourselves without knowing God, and we can’t really know the fullness of God without knowing knowing ourselves This book will help you with both tasks.”

Rick Warren

“It’s the number one reason people fail to continue as global missionaries: they can’t relate to others. God wants to open the eyes of the nations to the gospel, but first He has to open the eyes of the person closest to you—YOU! Over the last decade, I’ve seen Pastor Matt Brown and his wife, Tammy, live out an authentic vision for the Christian life and transform our church by using both a biblical lens and tools like the Enneagram in order to help people heal, grow, and serve. I can now take all of my staff through years of teaching material because it’s found in Matt’s new book A Book Called YOU. I’ve seen God use this message to reveal blind spots and break unhealthy sin patterns holding people back from the lives they were called by God to live. Just as James called us to look at ourselves intently and embrace what God shows us, we all need a mirror. I believe A Book Called YOU is a mirror God has given the church to help us see ourselves through the lens of gospel truth so that He might bring peace to our hearts and joy to the world.”

Claude Hickman