What am I trying to achieve?

The purpose of my book Lessons for Living is to:


1. Encourage readers to think objectively about a personal Creator. Charles Spurgeon wrote: there must
be knowledge of God before there can be love to God, and when this greater intellectual knowledge is coupled with existing experiential knowledge, it becomes a powerful source of capability for growing
personal faithfulness and life satisfaction;

2. Encourage readers to develop a relationship with the Trinity; to give hope and certainty in an uncertain
future. For a Christian, the worst sin is prayerlessness because living each day is not a power struggle but
a behavioural struggle; – each of us, learning more, how to live as a Christian in a secular world;

3. Encourage readers to act knowingly. God has already told us what he expects from us every day ……..
To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with [your] God was the creed of the O.T. prophet Micah
(6:8 NKJV). It speaks of three enduring moral duties; – attitudes of the heart to cultivate. Lessons for living,
so important that even Jesus referred to these three elements some 730 years later (recorded in Matthew
23:23)—justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

This beseeching statement is not complicated; it was penned for the common person. To act justly (or
equitably, protect those most vulnerable) to love mercy (which expresses itself in the care, support, and
kindness we show toward others) and to walk humbly with your God—cling to Him (metaphorically
speaking), for he is your life and the length of your days! (Deut. 30:19-20 NKJV)

In summary; we can all benefit from a little more theology in our lives. Professor Andrew Sims (1938-2022)
was the President of the United Kingdom’s Royal College of Psychiatrists, and professor of psychiatry at
the University of Leeds.

In his 2009 book “Is Faith Delusion? Why Religion is Good for Your Health” Professor Sims cites 1200
research studies and 400 reviews which suggest, “in the great majority of studies, religious involvement is
correlated positively with,” well-being, happiness and life satisfaction; hope and optimism; a stronger
sense of purpose and meaning in life; higher self-esteem; better adaptation to bereavement; greater social
support and less loneliness; lower rates of depression and faster recovery from depression; lower rates of
suicide and fewer positive attitudes towards suicide; less anxiety; less psychosis and fewer psychotic
tendencies; lower rates of alcohol, drug use and abuse; less delinquency and criminal activity; greater
marital stability and satisfaction.

He goes on to say; “there are direct benefits, such as being more optimistic and coping better in response
to stressful circumstances.” He writes elsewhere; “I claim a right to give an opinion, as my book on
descriptive psychopathology, Symptoms in the Mind, now in its 4 th edition in English, and translated into
several other languages, is the standard text for psychiatric trainees in the British-influenced world.”
Professor Sims talks about other research at the time “which shows that people with religious belief, rather
than being timid and lacking clear convictions, have a greater sense of direction and feeling of
independence from control.”

© Andrew Sims, 2009 Is Faith Delusion? Continuum, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.