Bad Girls of the Bible
My current read is by an author I had never heard about until I bumped into her book. I’m reading Liz Curtis Higgs’ “Bad girls of the Bible”. I won’t lie, the title had me from get go. I turned the book around to see the back and there was a quote that made me know that I was taking it home.
“When she was perfect, beautiful, and innocent, I found no toehold where I could connect with Eve. When she was tempted by her flesh, humbled by her sin, and redeemed by her God, I could sing out, ‘Oh, sister Eve! Can we talk?’”
These past few years, Christian women (especially on social media) have been fixated with the Proverbs 31 woman. The virtuous woman in whom fault we cannot find. She’s a responsible wife, a caring mother, an impeccable business woman, and a generous community member...she’s perfect. She’s everything I want to be. But she also intimidates me because I cant find the faults I find in me in her. She doesn’t struggle to love a husband who fails to appreciate her, she doesn’t have to put up with kids who disobey her, she doesn’t know what it is to feel useless because you have no contribution to the lives of those around you. I can look up to her, yes, but I can’t really talk to her. She’s too far out of my reach. Get what I mean?
This is why I completely understood Liz’ intentions with this book. It’s described as a novel approach to Bible Study as she quotes and breaks down Scripture throughout and at the end of each chapter she recounts what we learn from each character. But the big thing is the characters she has chosen to focus on...
“Eve had food issues. Potiphar’s Wife and Delilah had man trouble. Lot’s wife and Michal couldn’t let go of the past, Sapphira couldn’t let go of her money, and Jezebel couldn’t let go of anything. Yet the Woman at the Well quenched her thirst for the truth, while Rahab and the Sinful Woman left their sordid histories behind, proving Bad Girls can have a gloriously good future.”
The aim is to learn to not be defined by my ‘badness’ or being “bad to the bone” as Liz puts it. I will have bad moments, bad seasons even, but I don’t have to stay there, not when God reaches out to me with His saving Word. I came across a quote that said ‘you make mistakes, mistakes don’t make you’ (there’s also one that says ‘I don’t make mistakes, I date them’) I’m only kidding with that last one. The first one is a truth you need to treasure if you’re going to make it in life because you’re going to make a handful of mistakes while being alive. And don’t bother trying to avoid making mistakes, you’ll have to stop living. Rather, learn from the ones you make and make sure to only make new ones.
I’m only at Potiphar’s wife and I’m hooked. I love this woman’s writing style; you learn while you laugh. Most importantly, I love all the theological research she has put into each character. If I had a book club, this would definitely be my pick for the month.
“When she was perfect, beautiful, and innocent, I found no toehold where I could connect with Eve. When she was tempted by her flesh, humbled by her sin, and redeemed by her God, I could sing out, ‘Oh, sister Eve! Can we talk?’”
These past few years, Christian women (especially on social media) have been fixated with the Proverbs 31 woman. The virtuous woman in whom fault we cannot find. She’s a responsible wife, a caring mother, an impeccable business woman, and a generous community member...she’s perfect. She’s everything I want to be. But she also intimidates me because I cant find the faults I find in me in her. She doesn’t struggle to love a husband who fails to appreciate her, she doesn’t have to put up with kids who disobey her, she doesn’t know what it is to feel useless because you have no contribution to the lives of those around you. I can look up to her, yes, but I can’t really talk to her. She’s too far out of my reach. Get what I mean?
This is why I completely understood Liz’ intentions with this book. It’s described as a novel approach to Bible Study as she quotes and breaks down Scripture throughout and at the end of each chapter she recounts what we learn from each character. But the big thing is the characters she has chosen to focus on...
“Eve had food issues. Potiphar’s Wife and Delilah had man trouble. Lot’s wife and Michal couldn’t let go of the past, Sapphira couldn’t let go of her money, and Jezebel couldn’t let go of anything. Yet the Woman at the Well quenched her thirst for the truth, while Rahab and the Sinful Woman left their sordid histories behind, proving Bad Girls can have a gloriously good future.”
The aim is to learn to not be defined by my ‘badness’ or being “bad to the bone” as Liz puts it. I will have bad moments, bad seasons even, but I don’t have to stay there, not when God reaches out to me with His saving Word. I came across a quote that said ‘you make mistakes, mistakes don’t make you’ (there’s also one that says ‘I don’t make mistakes, I date them’) I’m only kidding with that last one. The first one is a truth you need to treasure if you’re going to make it in life because you’re going to make a handful of mistakes while being alive. And don’t bother trying to avoid making mistakes, you’ll have to stop living. Rather, learn from the ones you make and make sure to only make new ones.
I’m only at Potiphar’s wife and I’m hooked. I love this woman’s writing style; you learn while you laugh. Most importantly, I love all the theological research she has put into each character. If I had a book club, this would definitely be my pick for the month.
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