What to read next
by Dane Ortlund
Gentle and Lowly walks through the character of Christ as described in Matthew 11:29, drawing on Puritan writers to make the case that Jesus's deepest posture toward sinners and sufferers is tender affection, not weary tolerance. It is a slower, meditative read meant to be sat with rather than raced through, so groups that finish it tend to look next for books that either dig further into who God is or that turn this same tenderness toward the practical work of growth. Some leaders will want another theology-of-God's-character study to sit alongside it; others will want something that takes the comfort of grace and asks what it means for daily change. The books below split along those two lines.
Our Gentle and Lowly guide runs 22 sessions with 155 discussion questions.
These are guides from our own catalog, ordered by how much each book shares with Gentle and Lowly: subject and themes first, then the kind of group it suits, then the same author. It is an editorial comparison of what the books are about — not a ranking of which is better, and not a claim about what other groups chose.
by R.C. Sproul
Sproul starts from a different attribute of God, His holiness rather than His gentleness, but the two books make good companions because both insist that who God is must be settled before we can understand ourselves rightly. This study is shorter, 9 sessions and 62 questions, and its tone is more exacting and doctrinal than Ortlund's warm, pastoral prose.
by John Bevere
Bevere takes up the fear of the Lord, a theme that sounds like the opposite of Gentle and Lowly but actually complements it, since both books want readers to stop shrinking God down to a manageable size. At 14 sessions and 99 questions it runs longer, and its voice is more exhortative and urgent where Ortlund's is quiet and reassuring.
by Jackie Hill Perry
Perry, like Ortlund, is concerned with the gap between what we say about God and what we actually believe about His heart toward us, tracing it back to a misunderstanding of holiness rather than gentleness. The study is a bit shorter at 11 sessions and 78 questions, with a more direct, confrontational voice than the meditative tone of Gentle and Lowly.
by John Piper
Piper's book shares Ortlund's interest in what God is really like and how that truth changes the way we relate to Him, though Piper builds his case around joy and desire rather than tenderness and mercy. It runs 13 sessions and 104 questions and argues more systematically, building a case point by point rather than dwelling on a single verse.
by J.I. Packer
Packer's classic covers much of the same ground as Gentle and Lowly, moving through God's attributes to show that knowing about God and knowing Him personally are not the same thing. It is somewhat longer at 14 sessions and 99 questions and reads more like a systematic survey, whereas Ortlund stays close to one image of Christ's heart throughout.
by James Bryan Smith
Smith shares Ortlund's core concern, that many Christians carry a distorted picture of God that needs to be replaced by the real one shown in the Gospels. The approach is more formational, built around spiritual exercises alongside its 13 sessions and 92 questions, giving groups a more hands-on companion to the reflective reading Gentle and Lowly invites.
by Beth Moore
Moore's study asks a related but distinct question, not just what God's heart is like but whether we actually trust Him enough to act on it, drawing on biblical figures who believed God at their word. It is shorter, 10 sessions and 71 questions, and more narrative and application-driven than Ortlund's close reading of a single verse.
by Dane C. Ortlund
Also written by Ortlund, Deeper picks up right where Gentle and Lowly leaves off, turning from who Christ is toward how that grace actually produces change in a believer's life. It draws on many of the same Puritan voices and keeps a similarly pastoral tone, though at 11 sessions and 88 questions it is a shorter, more focused study on growth rather than on the character of God.
Session and question counts checked .