This One's for the Ladies

Okay, men can read it, too; they just might not be as interested.

I just finished a book last night on the plane home to MD, and ever since I started reading it, I've been thinking about mentioning it on the blog. The book, Lies Women Believe, by Nancy Leigh DeMoss caught my eye months ago in the Christian bookstore. I was searching for some new reading material while I was at home on furlough, and I figured it would be interesting.

The author takes approximately twenty major lies that women believe and responds with Truth from scripture, as well as dozens of anecdotes from women who applied the Truth to their lives and saw minor changes to major miracles. The lies center from the Fall of Man, when the serpent tempted Eve by lying to her. Starting with lies about God, the author then exposes lies about ourselves, marriage and children, emotions, and more daily, practical issues. I found myself very convicted about several of the lies that she mentions. Its easy to see how our culture promotes deceptions that take us further from the Word of God and the way that God would want us to live.

One of the last sections of the book was dealing with the lie that "I'm supposed to be happy." The author suggests that our culture teaches us that spouses are supposed to make us "happy;" or that enough money, good jobs, etc. will make us "happy." It leads to the pursuit of happiness, and none of those things can bring us happiness. The point of our lives is not to be "happy." Unfortunately, even the Church is teaching a seeker-friendly message that God wants us to be happy. Her statement: "God is not interested in my happiness; it is my holiness that concerns Him." Once I am holy, in right relationship with God, living my life to glorify Him rather than to satisfy myself and my own whims of happiness, I will have true joy. That joy transcends the suffering we may go through or even the humdrum of boring life that doesn't seem "happy" but can still be whole.

I thought this book was very intriguing, if not downright painful in its piercing honesty. Just about every woman I know would find at least a chapter or two relevant.