I recently was able to take a look at the book, i: the root of sin Exposed by Steve Gallagher.  I’ve been a Christian my whole life and have had my share of ups and downs.  Many periods of my life have been sink or swim and my faith was strong no matter how rough the waters.  But, having lived a rough life I have had to toughen up my skin, build walls and honestly live fearfully.  Not really the way we were supposed to live, but it became my defense and what I thought was a necessity.  Luckily, my life was shaken by a very traumatic event that tore down most of these walls and gave me a clear picture of why my present life was in the state that it was.  My outlook on life is a lot different now and because of that experience I was able to receive many blessings while reading this book.

Both my husband and I read i: the root of sin Exposed together.  We both agree it was not what we were expecting.  The approach is different from other Christian self-help, self-improvement material we have read before.  At first, we kept looking at the title and towards the back of the book because we were confused as to what exactly this book was going to be about.   This root of sin idea was different than the normal pass the blame onto something else concept that is today’s norm.  Off the bat we dived into the first of the 3 sections in the book, called the realm of i and by the end of the first chapter I sat stunned at my own pride and selfishness.  We examined the scriptures listed with our Bibles as we came to terms with the true history and story behind pride.  The description of Lucifer and his days in the Old Testament was eye opening.  We both felt like we were reading with new eyes, like we had never seen these verses before.  The pollution that filled the souls of our world and overtook our minds, filling us with a sinful nature when Satan lured Adam and Eve to live for themselves by disobeying God’s request had us in deep thought.  The section ends with a look at 3 people from the Bible who walked the pride path in life.

Section 2 examines the different forms of pride.  This may hurt a little or a whole lot, but to have your eyes opened to the cracks and crevasses that the Devil lurks waiting for his opportunity to swallow you up is imperative.  I found this healing and most helpful to have all the side notes and scriptures throughout this section.  God’s word is weaved nicely throughout the whole book.  My husband loved the special prayers at the end of each chapter and the quotes.  Many of them we have written on note cards and taped to our bathroom mirror.

The very last section shows how to have a transformation of the heart, to receive the kingdom of God like a child.  How to tear down all those walls and walk freely in the new reality of God’s ever close presence.  This book shows the delicate dance of brokenness and humility.  I was not expecting all that I received from this book.  I would encourage any young adult to add this to their list of must reads.  This book is not just about addictions like I thought it was going to be about.  It’s about living a life the way it was intended, not losing one’s self in the ever-growing society of Me thinkers.

I look forward to passing this on to my oldest children as they are becoming independent adults navigating this self-indulgent world.  I want to give them the opportunity to see how the scripture shows that all of our struggles with sin stem from pride driven behaviors that go back as far as Adam and Eve.

-Product review by Violet F., The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July, 2018