Book & Chapter Summaries

What Matters Most

How We Got the Point but Missed the Person

by Leonard I. Sweet · WaterBrook Press · 2012

Book summary

A prioritizing guide that clears away distraction and returns Christian life to love of God, love of neighbor, relationship, purpose, and Jesus.

Chapter & section guide

  1. The Crisis of Too Much

    Abundance of information and choice obscures what is essential.

  2. First Things

    Life gains coherence by ordering desires around God.

  3. Jesus

    Christ is not one priority among others but the center that interprets them.

  4. Relationships

    People matter more than platforms, possessions, and performance.

  5. Time

    Attention is a moral and spiritual form of love.

  6. Character

    Who one becomes outweighs image and achievement.

  7. Service

    Purpose is discovered through contribution to the life of others.

  8. Mortality

    Remembering life's limits clarifies value.

  9. What Matters Most

    Love remains the final measure of a life.

Editorial note: these are original thematic summaries prepared as a research and reading aid, not quotations from the book itself.