Knowing Yourself Knowing God by Dr. John F. Shackelford

Knowing Yourself Knowing God: From An Ego-Run-Life To A God-Led-Life by Dr. John F. Shackelford

Knowing Yourself Knowing God by Dr. John F. Shackelford is a Christian counseling book focused on helping you learn more about your true self (ego), and expanding your knowledge of God. The purpose behind this insight is to move past your ego in order to form a closer personal relationship with God. The book is divided into three sections: (1) knowing yourself, (2) knowing God, and (3) the stories.

The first section (Knowing Yourself) walks you through personality tests including Transactional Analysis, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and the Enneagram. For each, there are websites provided for learning your specific type, and explanations as to what each test is for, how results affect who we are, and what we can do in order to function better based on those results. He also explains his reason behind each test being advised in a Christian counseling setting. Along with these personality tests to help you discover your true identity (ego), he explains the concept of a "false self", and how this affects your relationships with everyone, including yourself and God.

The second section (Knowing God) explains God's gift (grace and love), God's will, and God's desire. It helps break down some of the ideas that are imposed on Christians (particularly as children) as to why they should follow God, why they should "be good", what God expects from them, and what God provides for them. This section would be especially helpful to adults who were raised Christian, but at some point felt a disconnect with God or questioned their own motives for following him.

The third section (The Stories) contains portions of the journey stories of six people who have worked to move from an ego-driven life to a God-led life. These stories show starting points, breaking points, and some of the steps being used to patch their lives back together.

I found this book to be very informative and helpful in my personal quest to heal from my broken past and get closer to God and His plan for my life.

Note: There are a few areas where the content doesn't flow well, and the author seems to have "jumped thoughts" without a clear explanation. I also found about half a dozen minor typos while reading this book. Neither of these issues are frequent enough to detract from the overall appeal and usefulness of the material covered. 5 stars.

*Disclaimer: The publisher provided me with a free copy of this book through BookCrash, in exchange for this honest review.*