When Strivings Cease: Replacing the Gospel of Self-Improvement with the Gospel of Life-Transforming Grace

We are all striving for something, aren't we? Most likely at least ten things pop up in our minds...from the never ceasing "to do" list. Ruth's new book "When Strivings Cease" is in two parts. Within the first eight chapters, we read where we are and what we are without God's amazing Grace. We are bent and broken while striving to please. We are unworthy and striving for attention. We are just amazing enough to not need God's amazing grace, because we are striving to be good enough on our own. We find ourselves striving for approval and looking for that long sought welcome and sense of belonging. We jump in the hamster wheel of performance and the facade of perfection, striving to save ourselves. We join this group or that club hoping this is the place where we meet approval, popularity and belonging. The past catches up intermingling our present worth with those poor choices, failures and shame. We try to outrun the shame and the guilt as we strive to have it all and bury the past. Our striving in and of ourselves will never cease. The game changer- Part two: When Grace Changes Everything!! God's grace makes all things NEW, not better, His grace fuels good works and eliminates the checklists, the self-help books and shame. God's grace cancels our debt, doesn't keep score and rewrites our stories. His grace replaces our fear with freedom, eradicates the lies we feed ourselves. "Satan's very favorite tactic has been to mess with our minds and plant seeds of doubt...doubt of God's goodness, faithfulness, forgiveness and favor." God's grace makes forgiveness possible in our ongoing "graceless narrative". We can accept and receive God's forgiveness and learn to forgive ourselves. God's Grace is enough to hold you together!! God's grace is all the self-help we need. Ruth combines beautiful back stories with scripture truth and old hymn lyrics to show how Grace, Grace God's Grace, Grace that will pardon and cleanse within...Grace that is greater than all our sins. Look up and listen to the lyrics of this beautiful hymn as you enjoy the artwork included in this book.

I read this book as I have read other books by Simons (Bible studies) and have enjoyed them. This book did not disappoint, and spoke to my own striving heart. I enjoyed Simons' writing style and artwork. Ruth Chou Simons, in this book, has written a more personal reflection and story of her life growing up in an Asian-American home and the huge pressures of life associated with performing. She begins by pointing the reader to the numerous ways in which our current society (and how hers growing up) pushes us to perform and measure up with those around us. From social media to church performance, the ceaseless striving can drive us to the breaking point. Simons uses personal examples in her life of how this affected her and these strivings can become become relentless in our pursuit to be accepted. She beautifully weaves in her artwork and her lettering art throughout the book, highlighting specific thoughts, scripture, or ideas that resonate deeply. For example, she brings home the truth she narrated about into this artful quote: "Herein lies the whole reason we must cease striving through good works: they do not save". Throughout her story, she shares the ultimate truths that it is only because of the work of Jesus - the Gospel - that we can cease in our own works. He has already done it all for us. We need to rest in that knowledge that even when there was nothing good in us, Jesus Christ, loved us and gave himself fully so that we can rest in him. No useless striving, no trying to perform to be accepted - we already are accepted by the One who made us and loves us. For many, this book will be a breath of fresh air, from her message to rest in the grace of Jesus and in the beauty she creates in her artwork. Enjoy!

Ruth is like a doctor you’ve prayed your whole life for. It’s like having this disease that you’ve been battling for years, seeing countless doctors and experts but no one’s been able to help. And finally when hope seems to be lost, you find her. It’s as if she’s able to finish your sentences, listing off your symptoms without you even having to tell her what you’re experiencing, finally giving a name to your sickness, and pointing you to the direction of the cure. Before reading this I had no idea that the biggest sin in my life, probably for most of my life, was striving. I didn’t understand what it truly meant, and how by falling down this hole it has brought me not only spiritual and mental anguish, but has affected me on the physical level! Striving almost sounds like the spun positive you would say when asked what your weaknesses are during a job interview. But in reality it’s destructive like any other sin. I’ll be honest, I started this book a year ago, and almost finished it until my pregnancy knocked me out for about a year. But I am happy to go through it again, and probably will need to go through it every year, or more, for the rest of my life. I swear every three sentences Ruth says something so profound and life-changing, I hardly have the time to let it sit and simmer. In my physical copy of the book, I have more highlighted words than not. I can’t even begin to pick my favorite quote. But what much of the message boils down to this: “If there is a gospel of self improvement, it is a damning one. It is not good news at all.” I have bought into the try harder gospel, and through my striving have made “doing better” my god. It’s what makes you skeptical of things you didn’t earn, such as the rest God gives us through His grace. And that’s no doubt why my body started to shut down while I was in grad school, making me so physically ill I was essentially forced to stop. I legitimately don’t know how to relax and stop worrying about doing better. Ruth deserves every star for writing this, and truly I don’t know if I’ve ever read a more life changing book. If I’m truly being honest I still don’t get the contents. I have such a hard time grasping the concepts and really applying them to my life. I really have to lean back, close my eyes, and think hard about how Gods grace is the answer to all this striving. Only then can it start to make sense, but then I still have to go about applying it!!! It’s something I know I’ll have to wrestle with for a long time, but I’m so grateful to have come across this book.

This is a great, honest book about realizing the Christian walk is not about how great we think we must be to earn God's love, but about how great Jesus is for doing all the work for us. His grace is sufficient for me. Period. The author tells a lot of personal stories about her own journey with these truths. I could relate to many, even though we have different backgrounds. I read the book with two Christian relatives. We would discuss the chapters afterwards, 3 or 4 at a time. We all have different backgrounds, personalities, strengths, struggles, and weaknesses. Yet we were all inspired to stop striving, recognize when we were defaulting to that yet again, and be more cognizant of God's grace. Yes, while we were yet sinners (and still are), Jesus died for us. I've been a Christian most of my life. But I identify with the Pharisee, the perfectionist, the legalistic person, the good girl, the one who tries to do the right thing, and had a list growing up of bad things I didn't do. In other words, abiding in God's grace and not striving to earn my own salvation - as if I ever could! - is hard for me. Yet, I fall short of God's grace every day and then beat myself up over it. This book proved I'm not the only one who does this, but I'm a fool if I keep it up because Jesus is the One who holds all things together, not me. It's a great book and I will likely read it many times again to remind myself that it's not about me, it's all about Him.

This is the book I’ve been needing lately. The first part goes through many of the ways we “strive”, trying to fix ourselves or earn grace. And the second part shows many of the ways we can experience grace. It’s full of stories, which makes it relatable and easy to read, and is bathed in Biblical truths. What resonated most with me was the reminder that the gospel of grace is not just for salvation but for our whole spiritual journey. God does all the heavy lifting the whole way. If you are weary and want rest or are tired of never feeling good enough, this book will be balm for your soul.

I’m not a reader but she kept me so engaged. Ruth is so good at painting a visual through the book. This book is such a wonderful explanation of how striving on our own can get in the way of Gods plan for our lives.

"Take your eyes off everything you think you need to be amazing and be amazed instead at God's grace." -Ruth Chou Simons; When Strivings Cease In a society so focused on "ME" and self-help/self-love, this book is EXACTLY what everyone needs. We can't better ourselves, our relationships without first growing our relationship with God! He is the answer to everything! If we truly accept him into our lives, fully accept his grace, that he miraculously gives so freely, our self-love, self-acceptance, self-forgiveness will come so easily. That then carries over to our relationships with others. "We can't know true freedom if we expect grace to make us merely better, rather than completely new." "God sees us as beloved and unblemished - he sees us as he sees his perfect son, Christ. He chooses to apply grave and call us forgiven because of himself, not because we've proven our worthiness. That's why we can't work to forgive others until we first receive Christ's forgiveness of our own shortcomings. Grace make it possible for us to stop trying to fix others and forgive them instead, on account of God's favor when we can't quite muster up our own." God's grace lets us know that God does not expect us to be "perfect" or even what we see as the "perfect version of ourselves." He knows we are going to mess up, and accepting him, and his grace, lets us know we are forgiven, gives us the courage to forgive ourselves and accept out imperfect selves, allowing us to live full lives, and grow healthy relationships. I love Ruth Chou Simons's other books, and this one is no different. This book is different from her others in that it shows HER. Who she really is in her faith, her life. She lets us know of her struggles in the past with striving to be more, and her struggles to truly accept God's grace fully. It is wonderful to see others that you admire and feel like they have it all together and see their struggles are the same as ours! BUY this book!! You will not be disappointed!! "Good soil is the difference between truth that transforms and truth that never takes root."

When Strivings Cease:Replacing The Gospel of Self-Improvement with the Gospel of Life-Transforming Grace by Ruth Chou Simons In a culture of self help, self improvement, and performance based behavior, this book teaches that the only way to live a joyful life is through the grace of Christ. Ruth is very honest and open about her struggle with performance and the expectations placed on her as an Asian-American. She talks about things from her childhood that shaped her thinking and belief system. "Grace, on the other hand, is counter-cultural with its self sufficiency and its relinquishing power." This book shows how self help is a prison and a never ending cycle; "a hamster wheel of striving." God's grace brings freedom and change. Trying to make ourselves worthy or better does nothing for us. We can never measure up on our own. We need the grace of Jesus and the newness he brings. In Part 1 we learn what happens when striving isn't enough. And part 2 teaches about the change grace brings. My favorite quote in the book is "...we can't know freedom if we expect grace to make us merely better, rather than completely new. Better seeks to measure up; completely new requires a miracle." This is so amazing to me because I too try to be better rather than clinging to the Grace of God to make me completely new. I learned so much and love the message of this book. Having this grace doesn't ensure a perfect life, we will have suffering, but Jesus holds all things together and he is good! We need to be daily reminding ourselves of this free gift of grace helps us live a life of freedom. This book would be amazing for anyone, but specifically anyone who is struggling with being enough, shame, wanting to belong, fear, and forgiveness. It opens our eyes to how grace is enough to changes us.

I could not decide whether or not to leave a review. I buy hundreds of books from different sources each year and review very few - roughly dividing what I read into 80-20: eighty percent wasted money; twenty percent have something about them. Ruth Chou Simon's book falls into the 20% - and right up the top of that; I mean squeezing up against the boundary of greatness. The first half (roughly) is brilliant. She has a touch of straightforwardness that meets the subject face-on. Too many people want something sugar coated - possibly so that they can keep trying again and again. As a Transactional Analysis Psychotherapist, I know the "Try Harder" driver that keeps a lot of people 'wanting' - and keeps others in ££ (or $$!) - with little significant change. Often aimed at teens/20s+, these endless self-self-self books are changing our cultures, for the worse (in my opinion). Ruth Chou Simon's book steps over all that and says it as it really is. BUT... then around the middle, it drops over a cliff - becomes sexist in speech, patronising, lecturing, boring (the writing, not the subject). I could not believe that there would be another chapter, after chapter - and I found myself hoping for the end. Too long, not edited enough, this book almost went into my 80% - but, I simply cannot place it there, because it still is the book to top all books. Ruth said she wrote it over Covid lockdowns. Perhaps something happened half way through that altered how she wrote. As an in-depth therapist, I witnessed how most clients did not visually appear or say they were affected by lockdowns - yet gave off an energy that would reveal otherwise (perhaps a case of "Be Strong"). I take Ruth's book for its meaty interpretations, the passionate insights and ways of speaking she offers us - and thank her sincerely for those. Ruth - get a new editor!

Everything everything everything about this book is absolutely perfection!!! Growing up in a legalistic religion for 20 years I had to unpack so many things, even my ability to approach God has always been skewed by what I was taught. Behave and do and do and try earn God’s favour and make Heaven my home. This book is scripture based and so clear and concise. Now I just have to work on my own heart and embracing this truth, Ruth explained so clear and so beautifully the simplicity of surrendering & embracing God‘s grace!!! I’m sure I’ve highlighted something on every page. If you are trying to understand salvation directly as it says in the Bible, this is the book for you! thank you Ruth and thank you Christ for your finished work on the cross. I know this was written with humility and the Holy Spirit. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Good, helpful and a blessing to this generation. We surely need more scripture based help books, that will guide us through these times we live in.

What a timely book!! A refreshing look at what drives us to push through so much of life and how God's grace and provision changes how we can live, to be productive and joyful at the same time, to stop striving and yet live more to the full, with greater freedom and peace. I know in my head God's grace is sufficient, this book does a great job of taking that truth and making it practical, what does that look like in this life, what might be stopping me living that out. The conversational style of this book was so good for me, like sitting down with a good friend and sharing heart struggles and searching scripture together to seek His guidance. I've been going through my highlights again and am so encouraged, asking God to let His truth in sink in and really permeate my life. May it do the same for you too.

I am really enjoying this book! Ruth shares her own personal experiences as well as sharing scripture. She has a true heart for God. There is so much insight. Ruth explains things in a way that is real and honest. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a book that makes you think beyond just this life here on earth (the material possessions, work, and all those things that we strive for) and replacing it with a deeper walk with God. I haven’t finished the book yet but there is so much wisdom in this book.