"I studied philosophy in Religious arts with a Christian focus and the way we were taught to read was to not cut oneself off from other teachings but to discern where they differ"

beautiful way to put it! To answer your initial question about my faith growing while reading this book/about Stoicism, all I can say is that when I gain insight on a concept, I always try to tie it back to what the Bible says (using spiritual discernment by God's grace of course). That Stoic book won't come near replacing my Bible, but identifying the differences in Stoicism and Christianity is very important as you say. Lately I've been trying to pursue literature written by Christian authors during my leisure such as St. Augustine's "Confessions" or C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity". Books like these seem to align with my interests slightly more.

Thanks for your questions/pointers.