Andrew Farley - The Perfect You: God’s Invitation to Live from the Heart

Praise for

T HE P ERFECT Y OU

I now realize how exciting it is to live from my new heart. Everything in this new life flows from knowing the perfect you and trusting Jesus within. In this captivating book, Andrew Farley and Tim Chalas invite you to celebrate Gods perfect (and accurate!) view of you. Youll discover how to authentically live in Gods grace and be freely inspired by the new, beautiful heart He gave you.

B ART M ILLARD , singer/songwriter for MercyMe

Were more than justified by faith. Believers in Jesus are regenerated, reborn, remade, and renewed by Gods grace. Its high time we claimed our birthright. I am so grateful to Andrew Farley and Tim Chalas for bringing us back to the original, mind-blowing, heart-changing, relationship-restoring power of the Gospel!

B RUXY C AVEY , lead pastor of the Meeting House and bestselling author of The End of Religion

Moralistic religion keeps yelling at you, You are and will always be bad, but if you love God, the least you could do is act good. Buying into this system causes us to hide and live less authentically than before we believed in Jesus! In The Perfect You, Andrew Farley and Tim Chalas masterfully present a life-giving message of astonishing hope: Christ indwells you, and you are right on time. No bluffing needed. He adores you and is revealing the perfect you in His perfect way.

J OHN L YNCH , renowned speaker and bestselling author of On My Worst Day

I read a lot of books once. It is rare when I read a book and think, I need to go back to this again. Andrew Farley and Tim Chalas have given us a book that should be read at least once a year by every Christian. Its so easy to forget the biblical truths these guys have so beautifully described to us in The Perfect You. Im an old guy who has just started thinking about his life in a different and exciting way. This book is a game-changer! Read it and youll rise up and call Andrew and Tim blessed.

S TEVE B ROWN , nationally syndicated radio host, seminary professor, author, and founder and president of Key Life Network

To anyone who has ever questioned how good God is or how much He loves them, this book is for you.

(And by the way, thats all of us!)

Y ou start your relationship with God, and everything seems amazing. But somewhere along the waya month, a year, or a decade laterthe magic fades away. The joy that first inspired you wears off. Frustration builds. Excitement dies. You find it again, briefly, at a particularly moving worship service, a retreat, or a moment alone with God in nature. But it never lasts. You end up asking: What happened? Where did it all go? Is this all there is?

Pretty soon, you conclude you have a wish list that just isnt going to be fulfilled on this side of Heaven. You want connection, consistency, closeness. But the more you wish for them, the further off they seem.

Whats on your wish list?

• __ I wish my whole heart belonged to God.
• __ I wish I looked more like Jesus on the inside.
• __ I wish I were closer to God.
• __ I wish I didnt want to sin so much.
• __ I wish I were more dependent on God.
• __ I wish I had more love for God.

Did you check one of these wishes? Two? Maybe most of them? Even all?

Dont worryyoure not alone. We all desire and seek after these things at one time or another. But heres the incredible news: Because of Jesus, you already have them. Yes, every single one of these wishes has already been granted.

How can that be, you may ask, if I dont feel any of it?

We hear you. We feel the ups and downs of everyday living on the planet too. Like you, we also hear a good portion of the religious world saying the opposite: You need to chase after these things all the days of your lifeeven if you dont seem to be making progress.

But what if your feelingsoften programmed by the opinions of othersare wrong on this one? Wouldnt that be worth knowing? As we walk through this book together, youre going to discover some powerful yet counterintuitive truths along the way. Youll learn that no matter what you might feel, these are 100 percent true of you:

• Your whole heart belongs to Him.
• You are as clean and as righteous and as holy as Jesus on the inside.
• You are as close to God as Jesus isright now and forever.
• You dont really want to sin, and theres a shocking reason you still do.
• You are naturally dependent on God. Its actually your new default setting.
• You have an undying love for God. You dont need more love for Him.

Some of these may seem difficult to believe right now. They may run counter to what youve learned. These truths may contradict some of the books youve read and the messages youve heard. They may even seem to disagree with your own life experiencesyour feelings and your failures. But as youll discover in this book, they are indeed truths about you. And these truths are absolutely key to any genuinely fulfilling life in Jesus.

As you deepen your understanding of these radical truths, they will transform the way you approach life. No, this book will not fix your circumstances. It doesnt offer false promises of health or wealth or guaranteed success in your activities. That wasnt the early Churchs experience, and its not ours today.

What we promise to deliver in this book is a revelation of how you can enjoy a God-centered contentment despite your circumstances. If you decide to believe and act on what is written here, you will gain a never-ending, bone-deep assurance that you are okay no matter what. Here, we are not talking about okayness in the future or okayness in Heaven. Were not talking about okayness after a lengthy sanctification process or some heroic effort on your part.

No, were talking about coming to know the perfect youwho you are right here and now, without any self-improvement. This book will put you on the path to seeing who you really are and give you the tools to see yourself and God in a whole new way. Youll gain a new awareness of your core passions and desires. Youll better understand what God did for you and to you when you believed in Jesus. And youll learn to engage with others in new and practical ways as you accept Gods invitation to live from your heart.

Think of this book as an introduction to your new spiritual heart and how to relate to God as He always intended. Heres the best part: Its great news all the way through. Theres no fly in the ointment. Theres no worm in the apple. Theres no hidden agenda to get you to do more or be more for God. Quite the opposite! We want to show you just how new and perfectly beautiful God has already made you.

A s we survey popular Christian messages these days, here are some of the main takeaways:

• You need to spend more time with God.
• You need to worship more.
• You need to prove your love for God.
• You need to slow down in life to be more spiritual.
• You need to rid yourself of all distractions.
• You need these strategies and steps to live better.
• You need to fast.
• You need to meditate.
• You need to hunger and thirst for more of God.

These incoming messages of do more and be more are shaping the most common flavors of Christianity today. And theyre triggering an avalanche of worry, shame, and guilt. We start measuring ourselves by an ever-growing list of unrealistic religious standards. Soon we are taken hostage by them.