Why You Should Read To Live Well

An Appeal to read my new book

Today is the day. After working on To Live Well: Practical Wisdom for Moving Through Chaotic Times for three years, it’s finally (officially) out. So I wanted to write a piece that explains what this book is all about, where it came from, who it’s for, why you should read it, and how you can help get the word out. Because I do need help. I deeply believe in the message of this book. I believe it’s a needed word for our times. Am I convinced that I articulate those words well or even beautifully? No. Perhaps I could have done better. But I do believe that I tried and that the ideas are important. That’s what I can offer you. So what is this book about?

The What

To Live Well makes the simple argument that we live in morally chaotic times. We receive conflicting messages about what it means to live a good life. We are given “A heap of broken images,” to quote T.S. Eliot, and are expected to craft something meaningful out them. But it’s all so incoherent. A YouTube guru tells us one thing. A TV personality tells us another. A teacher tells us a third. What does “love” mean? What does “justice” mean? How can we practice temperance? How can we have hope? These questions sink deep in our bones.

In To Live Well, I argue that we can turn to the four cardinal and three theological virtues, grounded in the gospel, as a path forward to navigate a chaotic world. These virtues, heralded by theologians in the church such as Augustin, Aquinas, and Calvin among many others, orient us toward who we were created to be in Christ and who we are called to be for God’s glory. These virtues are not “quick fixes” or “Seven Easy Steps to a Good Life” but hard won practices which we learn thanks to the empowering work of the Holy Spirit and grace.

The Where

To Live Well came directly out of You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World. As I went around the country giving talks about this book, one of the most pressing and repeated questions I would receive was: How do I practice belonging to God? This was a perfectly legitimate question, one which I touched on in You Are Not Your Own, but only touched on. People wanted more practical advice. They wanted more examples. They asked me how belonging to God related to smartphones, raising children, and their jobs. All of these were good questions which I didn’t have space to address in You Are Not Your Own, but they deserved an answer.

To Live Well is that answer.

In this book I begin each section with a description of why a virtue is difficult to practice in our contemporary world, which ties it back to You Are Not Your Own. Then I give an example of how Christ practiced the virtue, followed by a technical definition of the virtue. Then I explore the virtue in-depth to help you understand its nuances. Finally, I have at least two sections of practical application. What does this virtue look like applied to the real world? What does it mean in concrete terms?

All of this is answering the question: What does it mean to belong to God in an inhuman world.

The Who

I want many audiences to read To Live Well. I would love non-Christians to read the book and see the beauty of a Christian ethical system. I would love older Christians to read the book and find encouragement in understanding what the virtues are and how we can orient our lives toward God. I would love Christians in their 30s-50s to read the book when they are struggling with doubts about vocation and marriage and find resources to navigate those decisions virtuously. I would love Christians who are struggling with definitions of “love” and “justice” to find clarity.

But the one target audience that I am most passionate about reaching are young adults. I dedicated the book to my students, and I did that because I had many of them in mind when I wrote this book. It’s my opinion that many young people are under tremendous pressure to “figure it out” and yet are given very little mentorship or guidance. This book cannot and should not replace embodied mentorship, but it can offer encouragement and some guidance. And I hope that many young adults (say, 18-25?) will pick it up and read it.

The Why

I would encourage you to read this book if you have any interest in the virtues, if you have any sense of anxiety about how to navigate a contemporary world that feels liquid and out of control, if you resonated with You Are Not Your Own but wanted practical application, if you want to be stirred up to love and good works, if you feel inhibited and want to know how to break out of that, if you want to grow in wisdom, if you want to read pastoral counsel on how to make choices, or if you enjoyed my other books and writings.

As I said in the beginning, I believe the message of this book is important, especially for people who feel confused, inhibited, anxious, and lost about how to live in the contemporary world. I can’t promise you I executed on that messages perfectly, but I can promise you that I believe that the message is needed. I fall back on my favorite T.S. Eliot quote, “For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.” I tried.

The How

Publishing a book is difficult in the Year of Our Lord 2026. There are a billion books and fewer and fewer readers. Basically the only way this book gets into the hands of the people it can help is if you share it, tell someone about it, hand it to them, buy them a copy, or review it on Amazon and/or Goodreads. That’s it. Ads aren’t very helpful. Podcasts hardly get the word out. The most important thing is people who read and love books telling other people that they read and loved a book.

So please. If you have a minute, share on social media. Buy the book and tell someone about it. Tell your pastor about it. Tell your college minister about it. Give it as a graduation present. Give it to someone who is going through a confusing time in their lives. Share the word.

At the bottom of this post I’ve included three images you can share of endorsements of the book. Feel free to download them and share them on social media to help get the word out.

But first, tomorrow at 11:30 CST I’ll be chatting with my good friends at Mere Orthodoxy about To Live Well. There’s only 100 spots available. I would love to see many of you there. Click here to register! The 100 spots are now full! Thank you!

And if you are in the OKC area, tomorrow night I’ll be at Commonplace Books at 7:00 pm for a book launch, discussion and Q/A.

---