Charles Stanley’s final devotional offers path to peace

Charles Stanley’s posthumous 90-day devotional provides a clear roadmap for Christians seeking purpose and peace through daily scripture, reflection and practical faith exercises, says our reviewer

In a world of turmoil, the path to peace is highly sought after, and the late Charles Stanley’s new book offers a clearly outlined journey to it. In Your Path to Purpose, Passion, and Peace: 90 Days of Timeless Wisdom (Zondervan Books), Stanley, former pastor of First Baptist Atlanta, takes readers on a journey to discovering fulfilment in Christ, which is less formula and more transformation. 

Each day of the 90-day devotional follows the same structure: a scripture reading reference and key verse for the day, a devotional thought (roughly a page long), and two ‘Goals for the Day’. These are followed by a section called ’Faith in Action’, which gives readers space to write something based on the passage or the scripture which might be a prayer, reflections or the relevance of the reading to their own life. Each day ends with a pre-written prayer.

The format fosters a familiarity well-suited to a daily devotional. Readers quickly know what to expect, making it easier to build the habit of picking up the book each day for three months. At times, the ‘Goals for the Day’ and ‘Faith in Action’ prompts feel quite similar and could have been combined; a sharper distinction between the two would better justify them as separate sections. While not explicit, the whole devotional follows a clear structure that helps readers understand the Gospel’s transformative power in daily life. 

Using examples of heroes of the faith from the Bible, Stanley describes what it means to have faith in our everyday lives – faith that is victorious, that conquers, that perseveres when obstacles come. Looking at Hebrews 11, he reminds readers that the way of faith is not an easy way. It is: “…the way of trials. The way of most misunderstanding. The way of patience.” It is a fortifying start to