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A review by bellesmoma2021
Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Our Minds by Jen Wilkin
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin has single-handedly illustrated to me that I have never read my Bible correctly. Put simply, this text has convicted me. Yes, I have been reading the Bible selfishly and emotionally, and this is all wrong.
Here are the immediate questions of the text that had me evaluating all I thought I knew about reading God’s Word:
Am I reading my Bible understanding that it’s a book about God?
Am I making the Bible a self-help guide?
Am I reading the Bible making it all about me?
Am I coming to Bible study focusing on me, me, me OR God, God, God?
God desires a relationship with us, and we should absolutely crave a relationship with Him. We know that one of the BIGGEST goals as a Christian is to become a new creation and to work towards being like Jesus. We are called to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1-2). So, we go to our Bibles to see how we can be more like Jesus. But in this, we run the risk of turning the Bible from a book about God into a self-help manual. One of my favorite quotes from the text is: “The Bible tells us who we are and what we should do, but it does so through the lens of who God is” (loc. 238). So when we read the Bible we need to ask ourselves, “What does this passage teach me about God?” When we do this, we can then compare who God is to whom we are and make the necessary changes. Well, we can at least attempt to make the necessary changes; it’s really God doing all the work. All I’ve stated to this point is a microcosm of all that Women of the Word attempts to teach. It’s a really tiny book, but it is jam packed with gem after gem. For sure, this book has completely revolutionized how I approach Bible studying from now on.
Women of the Word is a text that forces readers to make a perspective shift. It is a text full of tools to get us to shift from emotion to reason, to sound Bible study that gets us to Bible Literacy. It is a text that illustrates that the whole aim of the Bible is to get us to desire all the things God desires. I absolutely devoured this book, loved every convicting moment, and now wholeheartedly intend to put all the many tools, tips, and techniques of this book into practice so I can actually become the woman God wants me to be — one who loves all that He loves. If you can’t tell by this point, this book is invaluable and I highly recommend it.
I received a copy of this text in eBook form from the author on October 23, 2018, in order to review. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Here are the immediate questions of the text that had me evaluating all I thought I knew about reading God’s Word:
Am I reading my Bible understanding that it’s a book about God?
Am I making the Bible a self-help guide?
Am I reading the Bible making it all about me?
Am I coming to Bible study focusing on me, me, me OR God, God, God?
God desires a relationship with us, and we should absolutely crave a relationship with Him. We know that one of the BIGGEST goals as a Christian is to become a new creation and to work towards being like Jesus. We are called to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1-2). So, we go to our Bibles to see how we can be more like Jesus. But in this, we run the risk of turning the Bible from a book about God into a self-help manual. One of my favorite quotes from the text is: “The Bible tells us who we are and what we should do, but it does so through the lens of who God is” (loc. 238). So when we read the Bible we need to ask ourselves, “What does this passage teach me about God?” When we do this, we can then compare who God is to whom we are and make the necessary changes. Well, we can at least attempt to make the necessary changes; it’s really God doing all the work. All I’ve stated to this point is a microcosm of all that Women of the Word attempts to teach. It’s a really tiny book, but it is jam packed with gem after gem. For sure, this book has completely revolutionized how I approach Bible studying from now on.
Women of the Word is a text that forces readers to make a perspective shift. It is a text full of tools to get us to shift from emotion to reason, to sound Bible study that gets us to Bible Literacy. It is a text that illustrates that the whole aim of the Bible is to get us to desire all the things God desires. I absolutely devoured this book, loved every convicting moment, and now wholeheartedly intend to put all the many tools, tips, and techniques of this book into practice so I can actually become the woman God wants me to be — one who loves all that He loves. If you can’t tell by this point, this book is invaluable and I highly recommend it.
I received a copy of this text in eBook form from the author on October 23, 2018, in order to review. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.