Book Review: Let Me Be a Woman
When one of my friends recommended Let Me Be a Woman as our next book club read, I was thrilled! I had heard of this book from several people, and I have always found Elisabeth Elliot's writings to be helpful and insightful, so I jumped at the excuse to spend some time with this little volume.
The book itself is not very long, and although there are 49 chapters, each one is only a few pages. it made a good "filler" read for when I had just a few spare minutes here and there.
That having been said, this book has a great deal of substance. Written as a sort of letter to her daughter on the occasion of her marriage, this book contains some powerful arguments against the modern feminist movement. It was originally written in 1976, but the message is still vibrantly true and needful today.
The overall premise is that God has designed women to be the most fulfilled when they are fulfilling the purpose for which He has designed them.
Simple, right?
But what the Bible clearly teaches about God's design for women is so very different from the feminist perspective, and there have been many arguments put forth against the Biblical model of womanhood. This book combats some of the most common of these arguments. It also gives some excellent perspective on how God intends for marriage to work and some good advice on some points to consider before entering marriage.
This is my favorite quote from the book:
"The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian does make me a different kind of woman. For I have accepted God's idea of me, and my whole life is an offering back to Him of all that I am and all that He wants me to be."