Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers

Dane C. Ortlund examines the interior disposition of Jesus toward struggling humans, focusing primarily on the specific biblical self-description of being gentle and lowly in heart. Relying heavily on seventeenth-century Puritan theologians like Thomas Goodwin, Richard Sibbes, and John Owen, the text argues that Christ’s natural instinct is not judgment or distance, but an irresistible pull toward those in pain. Ortlund frames divine mercy not as a reluctant duty but as the fundamental overflow of God’s character when encountering human failure and sorrow.

This book is intended for Christians who struggle with feelings of inadequacy, guilt, or the fear that God is perpetually disappointed in them. Readers often turn to this work to recalibrate their understanding of the divine personality during periods of spiritual burnout or moral failure. The reader leaves with a specific theological framework that emphasizes Christ’s compassion as his primary reaction to sin, replacing a mental image of a harsh judge with one of a sympathetic savior who shares in their infirmities.