This book is a look into the life of a young girl who wants so much to be accepted in this strange new place she lives in. Through her search for acceptance in a new culture, she finds where her true acceptance lies. I’m so excited to be able to share the wisdom in this book. I have laughed and cried all through the book, and breathed a breath of relief as God’s grace filled me.

When Strivings Cease was so well-written, it’s as if I’m sitting down with Ruth having this very deep and very needed conversation. It’s so engaging and so convicting all at the same time. She hits on all of the things that we struggle with in regards to striving and what our perspective should be as Christians. This book has honestly reshaped my day-to-day thought process and has helped me see what is truly most important. This is a must-read for everyone!

When Strivings Cease is a wonderful study of God’s grace and how we tend to want to work our way into it rather than accept this amazing gift. Ruth tells her story of striving to do better, be better, work harder and of her realization through Bible study that grace is freely given to us.
We just have to accept it and respond with gratitude. She begins with stories about her childhood. One of my favorite is about the lunch room in a new school in a new country. As someone who moved across the US every three years growing up, I could deeply identify with being treated differently because of the food I might eat or my accent and the loneliness of those school lunchrooms. One quote resonated with me because I struggled to make new friends over and over again. “You can’t long for the approval of God and others at the same time. One always eclipses the other.” Even as an older adult I find myself striving for approval from people around me. This was such a good reminder that my only approval needs to come from God. Another quote comes from chapter eleven about how Grace cancels our debt, for real. “Simply put, the wonder of the gospel—that changes everything if we believe it—is that our debts aren’t just canceled; our account is filled up to overflowing.” Ruth covers fear, forgiveness and many other topics that I had not associated with grace before. This is an excellent discussion of striving and grace that I will share with several people in my life. If you find yourself exhausted with trying to achieve, win and influence your world, this book may be just what you are looking for. Through Christ we have already won. Now we can rest in God’s grace and give him praise.

When Strivings Cease:Replacing The Gospel of Self-Improvement with the Gospel of Life-Transforming Grace by Ruth Chou Simons 


In a culture of self help, self improvement, and performance based behavior, this book teaches that the only way to live a joyful life is through the grace of Christ. 


Ruth is very honest and open about her struggle with performance and the expectations placed on her as an Asian-American. She talks about things from her childhood that shaped her thinking and belief system.


"Grace, on the other hand, is counter-cultural with its self sufficiency and its relinquishing power."


This book shows how self help is a prison and a never ending cycle; "a hamster wheel of striving." God's grace brings freedom and change. Trying to make ourselves worthy or better does nothing for us. We can never measure up on our own. We need the grace of Jesus and the newness he brings. In Part 1 we learn what happens when striving isn't enough. And part 2 teaches about the change grace brings. 


My favorite quote in the book is "...we can't know freedom if we expect grace to make us merely better, rather than completely new. Better seeks to measure up; completely new requires a miracle."


This is so amazing to me because I too try to be better rather than clinging to the Grace of God to make me completely new. I learned so much and love the message of this book. Having this grace doesn't ensure a perfect life, we will have suffering, but Jesus holds all things together and he is good! We need to be daily reminding ourselves of this free gift of grace helps us live a life of freedom.


This book would be amazing for anyone, but specifically anyone who is struggling with being enough, shame, wanting to belong, fear, and forgiveness. It opens our eyes to how grace is enough to changes us.

“God does not cancel but comforts in your shame. God does not shame you, but Christ bears your shame. God does not stand far off in judgment but runs to you in welcome.”

Starting this book, I don’t think I realized how many aspects of my life are controlled by striving - by not seeing myself for who I truly am in Christ - by trying to be the coolest or the best that I “am” but in reality forcing myself to be someone that I am not.

When Strivings Cease is a grace-filled look at why we strive. Ruth Chou Simmons hits on insecurities that cause us to strive but she doesn’t leave us dangling without hope, in fact she joins our world, sharing her own struggles, and consistently pointing us to Christ. Ruth quotes many scriptures as well as “greats of the faith” to support her points, and she does so in a way that you don’t feel mowed down by a mountain lion.

Honestly, When Strivings Cease should be a staple in all Christian women’s lives. I plan on re-reading once I get my physical copy of the book. (Partly because I know the artwork will be striking but also because I know I need these truths beat into my thick head!)

Thank you to Ruth Chou Simmons, GraceLaced, Netgalley, and the Unmutable team for giving me the chance to be a part of the launch team!

When Strivings Cease was a very intimate look into how Ruth Chou Simons came to understand and be okay with herself.  "This book is the hard-won, mended soil I've learned to cultivate in the last two decades of my life."  And she shows you how she worked this all out.

In her own words..."...what actually changed everything for me in this unending search for adequacy, enoughness, whatever you want to call it, was truly understanding God's grace - by which I mean, reclaiming it from its trite usage and looking at it from a biblical point of view - and I almost missed it.  It almost seemed too simple, or like there should be more to it, but this is what I've learned takes us from a place of starving to living fully into our spiritual potential as image bearers of a bigger-than-we-think God.  I've learned that what I needed was more than the latest prescription; I needed a proper diagnosis and a true solution for my endless striving.  That's the journey I want us to undertake together here.  It's not a call to get busy; it's a call to get discerning.  Because what we've been busy doing isn't working."

There is a lot in the world today talking about how we are enough.  But are we?  Ruth answers this question.  "Is it possible that we keep trying to answer the wrong question - 'Am I enough?' - when we're really wanting to know: 'Is God enough?'  The answer to the latter will satisfy the first."

And in answering the question about our enoughness, Ruth would rather "peel back the layers of why we continue in the cycle of thinking enoughness is attainable by our own means.  And how all that striving has to do with what we really think about God's grace.  We keep trying to squeeze life out of a means that never matched the end.  God gives his freedom and welcome in his way.  And, truth is, this faulty framework and insufficient understanding of approval leaves us with only one of two options: We either keep striving - bending, maneuvering, adapting - to be what we think is required of us.  Or, alternatively, we give up pleasing anyone else - including God - and only seek to please ourselves.  You see, friend, if we believe it's up to us to be pleasing and enough, we can only try harder or stop caring altogether.  Neither is what God intended for you."  

Ruth uses her life experiences to weave a story showing how we can get over our enoughness.  I thoroughly enjoyed her stories, which read like a memoir that melted into how these experiences relate to lessons we learn from God's Word.  It's a perfect blend of sound Biblical knowledge and personal reflection.  I highly recommend this book.  

BONUS:  This book has some of Ruth's beautiful artwork.

I enjoyed this book, it had an easy read feel to it. The graphics and pictures are beautiful and are true to the author's talents and gifts. I appreciated her honesty and several stories were very relatable. It would make a good book club read.

This beautiful book by Ruth Chou Simons shares her personal struggles with perfection. Her journey warns the reader that our constant strivings for self-improvement threatens to destroy the peace that is ours to claim as a child of God. This book speaks to me as I’m learning to resist seeking personal validation in my retirement. By the grace of God, I now have the freedom to notice the blessings that God sends each day. Regardless of your season, this timely message will encourage you to lay down your strivings in order to to receive the joy that God provides as you live out his purpose in your life! (I read a digital ARC provided by NetGalley in return for my honest review of this book.)

I love Ruth Chou Simons but this one wasn't my favourite. I enjoyed the content but found it a bit wordy. I loved hearing Ruth's story and LOVED the art within these pages. It is with kindness, honesty and vulnerability that Ruth always communicates the truth of the scriptures.

This book was a blessing and an encouragement. Each chapter felt like sitting down and having a conversation with the author. I was so impressed at how she spoke truth by sharing hymns I grew up singing alongside stories from her life. I also really loved how much of the book reflected Scripture. I feel like that is where we find truth and that being the foundation was evident and made what she shared deeper. I have struggled with striving- trying to do more, be more- and it is so freeing to know that is not what the Lord requires of us. This book is so helpful to know more about what we have been given in Christ, and how that impacts our day to day lives. I loved this book and highly recommend it!

Thanks to Nelson Books for the free review copy.
This book is what I needed and didn't know it. She writes with such honesty and truth and always points the reader back to God's grace. It was so good to be reminded of what a gift grace actually is and what it isn't. I found myself encouraged and convicted through my experience reading this book. While not all of my experiences are similar, Simons writes in a way that I felt like I could draw parallel experiences of my own to help me understand and grasp the concepts she was sharing about God in this book. You'll also want to have a highlighter handy because there is such wisdom in her words.
I'll return to this book again and again when I'm needing reminded of what grace should look like.

Without a doubt, the best part of When Strivings Cease is Ruth's story. I appreciated each glimpse that she shared, each moment she reflected on. However, the longer the book went on, the more she seemed to repeat the same few things over and over again. While I was touched by her story, by the end of the book, I had not underlined anything at all and felt I could have skimmed the last 25% without missing a thing. I've read her other books, which are devotional-length essays, and wonder if part of this is due to transitioning to more long-form writing.

It's a beautiful and lovely work from Ruth. A difference from her others books is that they are a sort of devotional, this book is the journey of Ruth finding grace. I love the fact that with vulnerability and transparency Ruth talks about her continuing process of changing self performance and achievement for Gods grace. Through the pages of this book Ruth reminds us to be transparent and seek to please God with our gift instead of trying to be perfect and succesfull for other people. She encourages us to enjoy what we are doing with passion and grace.

I received an advance copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange of my honest review.

This was a wonderfully written memoir focused on trading self-improvement for the Gospel. With soul-stirring reflections and deep scriptural analysis, Ruth brings her strong voice to the conversation, urging others to accept grace instead of finding their identity in good works. I also loved reading Ruth’s perspective as a Chinese immigrant which made the book feel even more special. Everything from the art to the writing was so well done. I absolutely recommend this book to Believers!