Goliath Must Fall: Winning the Battle Against Your Giants, For Young Readers
By Louie Giglio
It used to be said, “kids today have it so much easier….” than kids of the past. As a parent of five children who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I wouldn’t say that is true today.
Technology has been a blessing and curse for the modern era. It makes life more convenient in so many ways, but it also adds a lot of unnecessary stress and negative side-effects when technology use, in particular, use of social media, become something we feel we cannot live without. This has affected nearly all age demographics but the worst casualities are seen amongst the youth with staggering numbers of insomnia, depression, fear, loneliness, and anxiety reported annually.
It’s plain to see, kids today are facing more stress and pressure than ever before. The weight they lug around is holding them back from the joyful things they should be experiencing during their carefree days in adolescence.
In my attempts to shield my children from becoming just another statistic, I encourage open dialogue and regular “heart-checks” to evaluate their individual feelings and emotions. As well, I seek to point them to Jesus at all times but sometimes they may need some time on their own to process, reflect and ingest truth from a source outside of their family. In my parental experience, this has been effective in the use of childrens-based or tween-based devotionals or through guided prayer journals that are geared towards kids.
I am a fan of Louie Giglio’s ministry, especially his science-based children’s devotionals, and was so excited to learn he focused his latest book towards the tween-age audience.
Goliath Must Fall: Winning the Battle Against Your Giants, For Young Readers is a timely read for middle grade readers, ages 8-12, that is adapted from the national best-seller, Goliath Must Fall. This book includes practical tools and thought-provoking activities to help kids learn strategies to surrender their fears, overcome bad habits, and let go of worldly comforts.
Giglio uses the famed biblical story of David and Goliath as an example of conquering the impossible while also revealing an unforeseen twist that may change the way you see Jesus and how you approach defeating the giants in your life. As well, each chapter is packed with scripture, applicable takeaways, and reflection questions. In fact, there are several pages of journal space provided in every chapter to encourage honest evaluation of feelings while also challenging the young reader to live out their faith. I absolutely love this because there is so much value in expressing one’s emotions on paper.
The chapters are purposefully crafted to address a variety of topics, including fear, rejection, comfort, comparison, anger, addiction and other themes tweens may be battling. Personally, I appreciated the reflection questions and the encouragement to go spiritually deeper. Moreover, I enjoyed the author’s relation of a well-known biblical story to modern day “giants.”
My only critique would be the suggested reader age – 8-12 year olds. I have both an 11-year-old and a 7-year-old. I feel that the subject material is slightly mature for the 8-9 year-old age group. Truthfully, it may even be a bit “advanced” for a 10-year-old, too. I’d say parental discretion is advised as a parent is best in tune to their child’s individual needs, capacities and struggles.
Goliath Must Fall, For Young Readers is a great book for children experiencing a flood of emotions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as for fans of Pastor Louie’s other children’s books, Indescribable and How Great Is Our God [click here for my review].
*I received this book from FrontGate Media in exchange for promotion and my honest review
