Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life

Written by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

Narrated by Renee Raudman

God's love has the power to change lives. Christians, then, should exhibit the greatest transformation of all because, rightly understood and cherished, God's love makes them increasingly more like the One who has lavished his love on them. So why do we so often struggle to exhibit God's love?Biblical counselor Elyse M. Fitzpatrick asks one simple question: “In your pursuit of godliness, have you left Jesus behind?” We need to be rescued from our “identity amnesia” and pointed to our true identity as God's beloved children-adopted by the Father, united with the Son, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Fitzpatrick shows how a genuine transformation of identity leads to a transformation of our daily lives.Those who struggle with either legalism or lawlessness will find encouragement to return to God's love, the source of authentic and lasting change.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ChristianAudio.com
• Release date: Nov 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781610455671

Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

ELYSE FITZPATRICK has been counseling women since 1989 and is presently a part-time counselor at Grace Church in San Diego. She holds a certificate in biblical counseling from the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (San Diego) and an M.A. in Biblical Counseling from Trinity Theological Seminary. Elyse is the author of twelve books including Women Helping Women, Love to Eat, Hate to Eat, Idols of the Heart, and The Afternoon of Life. She is a member of the National Association of Nouthetic Counseling. A frequent speaker at women's conferences, she has been married for nearly thirty years and has three adult children and two grandchildren. She and her husband, Philip, reside in Escondido, California.

Reviews for Because He Loves Me

[quaintlittlehead · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was raised in the church. At twenty, I was brought to a realisation of how superficial my faith up until that point had been, and started my adult walk, throughout which the idea of a relationship with Christ has always seemed like a struggle less easily attainable than theological knowledge. However, thirteen years later, this book confronted me with a message that finally broke through that barrier, and the importance of which can not be overstated:The essence of the Gospel is that you are "flawed more than you ever dared believe, but loved more than you ever dared hope." As Christians, even the most Calvinist among us easily seem to treat the life and death of Jesus as good news for unbelievers only, and as if, once you have understood it, the real "work" of becoming a better person begins. Elyse Fitzpatrick asserts that this Gospel message is the only thing that will help us recognise our inability to change ourselves, the freedom of not needing to, and the absolute magnitude of God's love for us, and that even the most experienced Christians need to preach the Gospel to ourselves, and hear it preached, anew again every day.In almost any other book, I would criticise the author for repeating herself if she restated her thesis in every single chapter, but in this case, the centrality of this message is so crucial that it is an absolutely appropriate choice. Fitzpatrick manages to find twelve different ways to deeply explore this theme, but she never commits the error that has caused so much dissatisfaction in so many Christians' spiritual lives: trying to move on to "application" and quickly ending up once again struggling to be successful on your own merit because you have forgotten to ground your actions in the work of Christ. Instead, she gives a variety of clear examples that lay out just how impactful the incarnation, sinless life, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus can be for so many of our experiences. To remind yourself of this is something that will take a new and different kind of work from you: not the "check off the checklist" work of church-going, service, prayer, Bible reading, and Scripture memory (though none of those things should be checklist items, but so easily seem to feel that way), but real introspection in light of how all of Jesus' life relates to each day of yours.This is a message the world needs, because it is simply the Gospel message. Why that message is so easy to forget, I do not know, but I am profoundly grateful to Elyse Fitzpatrick for the reminder.

[hgbutchwalker · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

God really used this book in my life to remind me of the gospel in a meaningful way. What a blessing!

[judyg54 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am so glad I read this book, and feel I should go back and read it again. A sign of a good devotional book for me is all the highlighting and underlining I do when I read it, and this has alot of that in it when I finished. It is a book written "believing that a heartfult desire to live a godly life flows from recognizing how you've been loved and transformed through Christ. Fitzpatrick seeks to help you embrace and apply God's love in every area of your everday life." (a quote on the inside jacket of this book).Sometimes as believers we get focused on our outward behaviors and appearances and forget that it is Christ ALONE who defines everything we are and ever will be; he is our life and our identity as it is so beautifully written about in this book. Elyse writes, "In our desire to live the Christian life, most of us have simply left Jesus behind". We need to go back to the cross and the gospel and see God's love and make sure "he is the suprememly honored center of our being"; do I see Him as the person who my life orbits around? I was reminded of so much of what I have in Christ and it was a blessing for me to read this book and be reminded of how God's love can, does and will transform my life if I just stay focused on Him. I hope everyone will want to get this book and read it!