Book Review: You Are Not Enough, (and That’s Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love

I had been listening to Allie Beth Stuckey’s podcast for a few months, maybe a year, when I heard, she was writing this book, and before I even knew what it was about or its title, I was excited. The book is titled “You Are Not Enough (and that’s okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love.” I knew it was going to be a good book, and I was right. Is it for everyone? I’d say so, but considering the topics, I’d say not everyone would agree. 

I say this because we currently live in a time where “self-love” and “self-care” are being pushed on us. We hear things like “you need to love yourself first,” “you need to take care of yourself and your feelings.” We hear people constantly say, “your emotions are valid” and countless other similar sayings, but these are not necessarily correct if we want to be biblical. Not to say you shouldn’t take good care of yourself, but you should not only focus on, well, you. There is more to life than bettering oneself, and as Christians, we are called to be Holy, for He is Holy; thus, the focus is not on us but Him. 

In this book, Allie covers the latest “self-care” trend and how we react to it as Christians, but she also touches on a few political matters and how we are to regard them through a biblical lens. She talks about “equality,” “social justice,” and many more. I put these words in quotation marks because although we hear them often, they tend to have different meanings based on who is speaking. “Equality” to a Christian is not the same as what “equality” is to the world. 

This is a book I would strongly recommend to my female friends and any bible believing woman. It is a much-needed book for the times we are in. I also recommend you check out a previous post of mine titled “You Will Never be Perfect (and that’s ok)” that touches on a few topics Allie discusses in her book, you can find that link here. I don’t want to give too much away but I will include some quotes below along with an Amazon link, in case you decide to purchase it. 

*I am an Amazon affiliate so I may get a small fee for any purchase you may make but this will be of no effect on the price you pay.*

“Without the Bible as our basis for justice, we get a system based on the only tool we have without a supreme moral Lawgiver: the self.”

― Allie Beth Stuckey, You’re Not Enough (and That’s Ok): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love

“The self isn’t enough—period. The answer to the purposelessness and hollowness we feel is found not in us but outside of us. The solutions to our problems and pain aren’t found in self-love, but in God’s love.”

― Allie Beth Stuckey, You’re Not Enough (and That’s Ok): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love

“When we follow Christ, we are never at risk of “losing ourselves,” because our identity is eternally found in him.”

― Allie Beth Stuckey, You’re Not Enough (and That’s Ok): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love

“Social justice is concerned not with equality of opportunity but equality of outcomes. In order to achieve this, it must hold back those who are ahead and push forward those who are behind. Equality of outcome is NEVER possible without government force.”

― Allie Beth Stuckey, You’re Not Enough (and That’s Ok): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love

“While it’s true that we have experiences and trauma that shape us, these things don’t equate to moral truths. They just happened. And maybe they were significant, and maybe they taught us something. But in order to know whether these lessons we learned are truths worth building our lives on, we have to compare them to the standard of truth, God’s Word.”

― Allie Beth Stuckey, You’re Not Enough (and That’s Ok): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love

SDG – “Soli Deo Gloria”