Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

In Keith Thorn’s Worth the Trade, time is the currency behind every decision. Thorn begins with money because it is the cost people count, then changes the question from what a thing costs to what it asks of a life. A possession has a receipt, but its true price includes the hours that placed it there. A career brings income, but every goal asks for part of the person pursuing it. Memory becomes one way Thorn tests the value of decisions after years have passed. As Thorn develops this idea, ambition is measured by what it does to peace, and Christian faith gives the book its answer through grace. The title becomes the question attached to a full human life: what has been worth the trade?

Keith Thorn’s Worth the Trade is a wonderful Christian self-help book, and the best part is how easy it is to use Thorn’s main idea right away. I love the scene where he hears one of his parents’ sentences come out of his own mouth, because it says so much about how the past can live inside a person. The decision not to say the first harsh words that come to mind is another fantastic example. It gives the book one of its best lessons on character, and Thorn shows faith through real behavior, which makes the devotional parts easy for readers to trust in daily life. His writing is gentle but direct. Insightful and thoughtful, readers who enjoy faith-based self-help will adore this.