Book cover of Strength to Love

Book description

The classic collection of Dr. King’s sermons that fuse his Christian teachings with his radical ideas of love and nonviolence as a means to combat hate and oppression.

As Martin Luther King, Jr., prepared for the Birmingham campaign in early 1963, he drafted the final sermons for Strength to Love,…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked Strength to Love as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

We often forget that Dr. King was also a pastor in addition to his civil rights work. However, these two roles were intertwined.

Strength to Love is a collection of sermons that address the revolutionary effect of God’s love on our lives. Receiving holy love motivates us to love our neighbors in many ways, including seeking justice and taking action for their well-being. God’s love is transformative, and seeing this framed in the non-violence philosophy of social change is an inspiring, motivating illustration. 

This book may seem like it has nothing to do with bipolar disorder, but hear me out. In Strength to Love, King says that love undergirds the universe, and that good will ultimately triumph over evil. The book also tells us that all humans are interconnected, and that we can find hope and purpose in fighting for freedom and justice. Bipolar depression can rob people of all hope. People with bipolar disorder need books that hold our hope for us when we can’t hold it for ourselves. 

From Kathleen's list on your bipolar bookshelf.

If you love Strength to Love...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like Strength to Love?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Strength to Love.

Browse books like Strength to Love

Book cover of The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God
Book cover of The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays
Book cover of Bipolar II Disorder: Modeling, Measuring, and Managing

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,340

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Strength to Love, you might also like...

Book cover of Foxfire in the Snow

Foxfire in the Snow by J.S. Fields,

It's a time of change, between magic and alchemy.

Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…

Book cover of The Main Gate

The Main Gate by Yvonne Kjorlien,

Dr. Elise Marquette has spent years burying the past—until the past refuses to stay buried.

Hired to join Earth’s first interstellar contact team, she hopes the vastness of space will finally offer distance from the ghosts of war and the wounds left by a mother who never let her be…

5 book lists we think you will like!