Tuesday 17 June 2014

Are you a nice girl or a good woman?



I recently finished reading Nice Girls Don't Change The World by Lynne Hybels. I have to be honest, I only started reading it because my mum had left it in my room and I had run out of books to read. I really struggle with many Christian books and tend to avoid them. This one was a little different though.

To start with, it's not a thousand pages of a Christian superstar telling you what you should be doing with your life, It's simply another woman's true story of her discovery of a loving God. The realisation that God's love doesn't need to be earnt but is given freely to anybody who accepts it. That being a good woman, somebody whose foundations rest in God's love, knows that HER life, HER personality and HER talents are deeply valued and recognised by God even if by nobody else, and who doesn't let fear ever keep her from stepping out and living for God, is ultimately a better choice than being a nice girl.

This is an excerpt from the end of the book and it touches on what we as women need to be striving for, praying for and hoping for:

May we be dangerous women.

May we be women who acknowledge our power to change, and grow, and be radically alive for God. 

May we be healers of wounds and righters of wrongs.

May we weep with those who weep and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.

May we cherish children, embrace the elderly, and empower the poor.

May we pray deeply and teach wisely.

May we be strong and gentle leaders.

May we sing songs of joy and talk down fear. 

May we never hesitate to let passion push us, conviction compel us, and righteous anger energize us. 

May we strike fear into all that is unjust and evil in the world. 

May we dismantle abusive systems and silence lies with truth.

May we shine like stars in a darkened generation. 

May we overflow with goodness in the name of God and by the power of Jesus. And in that name, and by that power, may we change the world. 

This isn't a book which preaches, it's a book which encourages and energises us to be the best we can be. 

All excerpts taken from Nice Girls Don't Change The World, Lynne Hybels, Zondervan, 2005.Picture from www.christianaudio.com. 




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