I haven’t always been a lover of books, and I never imagined as a kid I’d be doing what I do today. No child ever says, “I want to be an editor when I grow up!”—unless you’re my 3-year-old daughter and the life of Dadda reading (and working on a laptop) all day seems fun.

I grew up in a non-Christian family that owned hardly any books. English was my second language. As a kid, I was a little absentminded and required tutoring to help me catch up in several subjects, including reading comprehension and writing. While this isn’t the case for everyone, all changed in my life when the Lord saved me as a 14-year-old: I developed a voracious desire to read God’s Word—as well as anything that could help me grasp this newfound faith. Comprehension wasn’t immediate, of course; much about Scripture and doctrine still puzzled me. But the decisive inward change had occurred.

I want to be careful here. Conversion doesn’t necessarily make one literate, and growth in Christ isn’t measured by how many books one reads. I, for one, did not become a sanctified savant—nor am I today. But as the late Hughes Oliphant Old showcases in his magisterial The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church (Eerdmans, seven vols.), reading and hearing God’s Word has always marked God’s people. And books have played an indispensable role throughout church history, sparking reformation, converting unbelievers, maturing disciples, and passing on wisdom to the next generation.

Since I always like recommending books a little afield from our regular coverage at TGC, here are my favorite 20 quotes on leadership from Jim Mattis’s new memoir, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead. 

Happy reading!

Ivan Mesa

Editorial Director