The Spirit-Filled Life by Charles Stanley – A Great Resource – Convicting, Challenging and Encouraging

It was my great privilege to read Pastor Charles Stanley’s newest book The Spirit-Filled Life in which he shared how a Christian can discover the joy of surrendering to the Holy Spirit.

Wow…this was a great read and a valuable resource to understand the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.  I found the book to be biblically sound and Pastor Stanley doesn’t mince word or back down when confronting people who misinterpret what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  But he does so in a winsome manner.  He goes through the Scriptures that address being filled with the Spirit and presents a strong argument that the phrase does not mean being able to speak in tongues.  He also exposes an issue that arises with an incorrect interpretation, that of second class Christians, the haves and the have nots.

Pastor Stanley also goes through the Fruit of the Spirit and helps the reader to better understand what it means to Abide in Christ.  I’ve got to warn you, this book is very convicting and there were times I felt like he had read my diary and was expressing what I feel when I see a lack of the fruit of the Spirit in my own life. 

Thankfully, Pastor Stanley also shares and encourages Christians how to remedy that through abiding in Christ and by surrendering yourself completely to God and recognize your own inability to live the spirit-filled Christian life on your own.  He stresses the absolutely necessity of reading the Word of God everyday, understanding it in context and gives examples of how the Holy Spirit may use Scripture to help us walk strong in Christ. 

There were a couple of instances where I thought Pastor Stanley could have made a stronger argument on knowing God’s will where he addressed the question of Christians dating unbelievers and if it’s okay to continue to have relationships with people from our past when we were unbelievers and walking in sin.  He approached the subject from the standpoint of making wise choices, but there are scriptures that he could have used to show God’s will on those subjects.

I greatly appreciated Pastor Stanley’s openness and transparency from his own life, both the successes and failures, and seasons of fruitfulness and dryness. 

I highly recommend The Spirit-Filled Life by Charles Stanley.  This book is a keeper and one that I will read again.  It would also make a great gift to someone who wants to better understand the Holy Spirit and what He does in the life of a Christian.

I would like to thank BookLook for the privilege of reading this book in exchange for an honest review.  I was under no obligation to give a favorable review.