Also by this author: How Do We Know Christianity Is Really True?, What Happens When We Die?, Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen?, How Can I Feel Closer to God?, How Can I Be Sure What’s Right and Wrong?
Series: Big Questions #4
Published by Good Book Company on March 1, 2022
Genres: Children's
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Helps kids grow in faith and confidence by looking at what the Bible says about their identity.
Sooner or later, kids ask big questions about themselves and their faith: Who am I? Where do I fit in? Am I good enough? What do people think of me? What does God think of me?
Christian Studies teacher and school chaplain Chris Morphew has been answering big questions from kids for over a decade. In this warm, empathetic book, he shows children how to embrace and enjoy their identity as those loved by God and made in his image. He also gives lots of practical advice on how to remember what God says about who they really are.
Lively stories and illustrations make this book easy for 9-13s to engage with. Readers will be helped to replace fear and anxiety with faith and confidence as they find their self-worth in what God says about them.
This is the fourth book in Chris Morphew’s Big Questions series, in which he answers kids’ common questions about life and Christianity. Who Am I and Why Do I Matter? addresses a deeply universal issue, and Morphew writes about it in an engaging, conversational style, explaining why it isn’t enough for us to pursue a sense of self-worth through our friends’ opinions, our appearance or abilities, or our own sense of being true to ourselves. He shows why our efforts at creating a secure sense of self-worth and identity fail, and points us to Christ.
This book is highly readable and perfect for its target audience, covering a lot of important issues in about eighty pages. Morphew addresses complex ideas in clear, often humorous ways, and his explanation of why individualism fails is particularly helpful, pushing back against cultural dogma that surrounds kids. In addition to this, he shares illustrative stories from his own life and expresses compassion for kids who struggle to fit in or feel particularly disappointed with themselves. Overall, this book is very honest and helpful, and I know that I would have appreciated it when I was the target age for it.
Who Am I and Why Do I Matter? is an excellent resource for families, Christian schools, and church groups. The publisher is marketing this book for kids from ages nine to thirteen, but the age range is flexible. Older teenagers who are reluctant readers will find this book’s brevity and conversational style appealing, and the book’s content and examples are appropriate for younger kids as well. The wide age range suitability would make this book an excellent choice for a family read-aloud, and its gospel encouragement can be a blessing to adults as well.
