This post is all about the best slow living books for the woman looking to live a more intentional life in Christ.
Slow living is all about being intentional with your time, realizing that what you do matters for both now and eternity. Slow living isn’t about doing less for the sake of simplicity alone; it’s about creating space to notice God, to cherish what matters most, and to align your daily rhythms with eternal truths.
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Here are 19 beautiful books on slow living to help you embrace simplicity, peace, and biblical rhythms in daily life.
Slow living books to help you slow down and seek God
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” {Matthew 11:28-30}
1. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
John Mark Comer asked himself the question “who am I becoming” and didn’t love the answer. That was the beginning of writing The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, where he gives advice on how to slow down and live a more peaceful life. In this book, you will see how hurry destroys spiritual life and how you can reclaim the peace you desire.
Perfect for: anyone who is tired of rushing through life and desires to live more peacefully.
2. To Hell with the Hustle
If you are tired of being tossed about in life, Jefferson Bethke’s To Hell With the Hustle may be for you. In it, he shares how you can reject hustle culture to embrace biblical rest and purpose by going back to the fundamentals. This book is for anyone who is feeling overwhelmed with the demands of work, family, or community, as well as those who are tired of feeling anxious, lonely, or burnt out.
Perfect for: anyone who wants to reclaim their life.
3. Keeping the Sabbath Wholly
If you are curious how the biblical idea of keeping the Sabbath can affect your whole week, Marva J. Dawn dives into it in Keeping the Sabbath Wholly. Here, she writes about the four parts of keeping the Sabbath: ceasing, resting, embracing, and feasting. In ceasing, you learn how to slow down your mind ot not focus on work, productivity, anxiety, and so on. In resting, you learn how to care for your mind, body, and spirt. With embracing, you learn how to deliberately take hold of the thing which are from God. And in feasting, you learn how to enjoy the blessings of God.
Perfect for: anyone looking to dive into biblical Jewish traditions and live according to the Bible
4. Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest
In another great book about Sabbath and sabbaticals, Ruth Haley Barton writes of how to structure life around the life-giving rhythms God intended in Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest. Instead of living in a frenzied culture, she encourages readers to embrace the natural rhythms God gives.
Perfect for: anyone struggling to slow down and enjoy periods of Sabbath or sabbatical.
5. Liturgy of the Ordinary
If you are tired of feeling like every day is mundane, you need to read Liturgy of the Ordinary. Here, Tish harrision Warren explores how every moment can reflect God’s beauty as she takes readers though a typical day. She shows how we can be surprised by God’s presence in every moment. From making the bed to doing laundry, cleaning, and making dinner.
Perfect for: anyone who is overwhelmed by the seemingly menial and mundane work of everyday life.
Related post: 13 of the Best Minimalist Books to Help You Begin Your Journey
Slow Living Books for home and family life
“By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.” {Proverbs 24:3-4}
6. The Lifegiving Home
Mother and daughter, Sally and Sarah Clarkson, share beautiful tips for cultivating a calm home in The Lifegiving Home. Filled with practical tips and wisdom, they effortlessly show how you can create a home of warmth, rest, beauty, and grace.
Perfect for: anyone who wants to infuse more life in their home and parenting.
7. The Lifegiving Table
The dinner table provides a place for natural conversation, a listening ear, and telling stories that connect families through the ages. In The Lifegiving Table, Sally Clarkson shares how you can slow down and nurture relationships through shared meals. In this book, you will get her own family stories, as well as favorite recipes and practical ideas to open up your table to family and friends.
Perfect for: anyone looking to expand their cooking and hosting repertoire.
8. Habits of the Household
Justin Whitmel Earley writes of simple habits and daily rhythms that will help you find meaning beyond the chaos in Habits of the Household. Here, he shares practical wisdom for how you can parent with purpose and cultivate daily habits that bring peace into your home.
Perfect for: anyone looking to add practical actions, prayers, and liturgies to their daily home.
9. Holy Hygge
Jamie Erickson lends biblical hospitality with the Danish art of cozy, simple living in Holy Hygge. In it, she takes you through the seven tenants of hygge, including: hospitality, relationships, well-being, atmosphere, comfort, contentment, and rest.
Perfect for: Anyone looking to create a cozy and welcoming home.
10. Placemaker
Christie Purifoy pulls from her experience of renovating a Pennsylvania farmhouse to call us all to embrace beauty amidst the chaos of everyday life. In Placemaker, she tells stories and gives tips on how to not only notice our soul’s longing for everyday beauty, but to cultivate it in various ways.
Perfect for: anyone looking to embrace slow, intentional homemaking rooted in God’s beauty.
Related post: Simplifying Life Biblically – How to Focus on What Matters
Slow living books for Simplicity, Minimalism & Christian Contentment
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” {1 Timothy 6:6-8}
11. Freedom of simplicity
Sometimes, slow living means digging deeper into faith and relationship with God. That is what Richard Foster writes about in Freedom of Simplicity. In it, he discusses what it means to seek first the kingdom of God and other Christian disciplines.
Perfect for: anyone looking for a classic guide to Christian simplicity.
12. Celebration of Discipline
Similar to Freedom of simplicity, Celebration of Discipline takes a look at various spiritual disciplines as a way to draw closer to Christ. Here, Richard Foster looks at three different types of spiritual disciplines. There are those that happen inwardly: such as prayer, meditation, and fasting. Outward disciplines include simplicity and service. And corporate disciplines are those that bring us closer to each other as well as God.
Perfect for: anyone who wants to discover simplicity and other spiritual disciplines.
13. The Ministry of Ordinary Places
Shannan Martin speaks right to the heart of many homemakers in The Ministry of Ordinary Places. In it, she writes of how you can find meaning in life between doing loads of laundry and dishes. She does this by showing the simplicity of loving others and being loved, right where God has placed you. Letting that love wash over you and transform you, all while finding meaning in the ordinary.
Perfect for: anyone looking to find the extraordinary in the ordinary when you slow down.
14. The Life You’ve Always Wanted
Christians are called to be transformed by the renewing of their mind (Romans 12:2), but often fall short from lack of knowledge. In The Life You’ve Always Wanted, John Ortberg gives practical wisdom to help you slow down and experience true transformation in every area of your life.
Perfect for: anyone who wants to be renewed by practicing spiritual disciplines that cultivate peace and joy.
Related Post: Slow Living – The Amazing Truth About Finding Your Rest in God
Slow living books that give Wisdom from Classic Christian Voices
“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” {Psalm 90:12}
15. The Practice of the Presence of God
Imagine a life where, instead of waiting for heaven to be in the presence of God, you lived with Him daily, in each and every task. This profound joy is available for you. Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth century monk, writes of his experience with God in The Practice of the Presence of God.
Perfect for: Anyone wanting to live in constant awareness of God’s presence, even while doing mundane tasks.
16. Life Together
We often think of community as close friends gathered around the table sharing a meal, or like-minded individuals gathered for a common goal. Community is seen as a joyous gathering when all is well. That is not the case for Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In Life Together, he writes of the basic tenants of Christian community, drawing from his experiences in an underground seminary during Nazi Germany.
Perfect for: anyone looking to cultivate simple, intentional Christian community.
17. A Testament of Devotion
Even before the popularization of the slow movement, Thomas R. Kelly was writing of the simplicity found in Christian living. In A Testament of Devotion, he writes five essays compelling us to center our lives on Jesus while finding the quiet and stillness offered to us.
Perfect for: anyone looking to find inward simplicity and trust in God.
Slow living books For Your Personal Growth & Heart
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” {2 Corinthians 4:16-18}
18. Rhythms of Renewal
Days can be hectic and full of stress and anxiety. But they don’t have to be. In Rhythms of Renewal, Rebekah Lyons shares how to replace the anxiety with rest. In it, you will find how to create rhythms in your daily life that allow for restoration, connection, and creativity.
Perfect for: anyone looking to replace stress and anxiety with rest and connection.
19. Garden City
If you have ever wondered what you calling is and the immediate next steps you should take are, John Mark Comer has you covered. In Garden City, he looks at the popular saying “who you are matters more that what you do” and gives radically countercultural biblical answers to your questions.
Perfect for: young (and old) people trying to figure out their place in this world.
A gentle encouragement for slow living {with wisdom from books}
Remember: the call to slow living isn’t about perfection or performance. It’s an invitation to walk in step with the Spirit, finding beauty in the everyday and creating space for God’s peace to flourish in your heart and home. May these books encourage you to live more fully, by being rooted more firmly in Christ.
