Regina Franklin

SUMMARY: Franklin skillfully chips away at the belief that a woman's body is more important than her character. Patiently pointing to Scripture, she convincingly shows that true beauty starts inside and radiates outward. It is this proper biblical understanding of God's design for women that empowers them to move beyond the cultural standards and the world's "ideal woman." (from back cover)

Has scripture as guidance but also includes lots of other examples from modern culture and literature.

The cover is absolutely gorgeous and shows example of something that many would see as very plain and making it a scene of beauty.

Christian women seem to have this understanding that there is something more to beauty than what we are told, after all we were made in the image of God. But every woman struggles to define beauty because modern culture and expectations give us a definition of beauty that is unattainable and creates self loathing and insecurities (just as the devil designed).

...Satan wants to misuse God's gift of our bodies for his purposes rather than God's. (p15)

But the influences of our self worth are everywhere including the action and the words of family and friends that affect how we see our bodies and understand ourselves. Even after the author realized the trap she and other girls were in, she could find no help in the people around her to recognize the problem or help her to change circumstances through a loving supportive environment. Not even the church would help.

"...But a place of peace based on society's standards doesn't exist On the contrary, the yearning to mirror society's image leaves us hungering for more. Because our self-esteem is rooted in our spirit, our longings to know who we are in Christ cannot be answered by countless diet and exercise programs in an attempt to remake our physical beings. Such a pursuit leaves our spiritual longing unanswered. Such a pursuit never silences the voice. Instead, the voices from without eventually are joined by the voices from within." (p26)

I think the core chapter in this book is chapter three: VOICES WITHIN
The main concept being -- "She can accept Christ as her righteousness in regard to her sin, but she has difficulty conceptualizing Christ as her beauty." (p33)

"She lives with a divided heart, for she believes in Christ's ultimate love for her and yet feels burdened by her inability to love herself. Adding to her frustration, she rears that she is the only woman who struggles in this way, so she attempts to silence the voices. Her struggle becomes an issue of spiritual pride -- an inability to allow Christ to be enough beauty for her and an unwillingness to allow others to see her insecurities." (p34)

"We man never silence the voices, but we can choose whether or not the voices define who we are." (p45)

The information provided in this book is a great place to start discussions and surround yourself with a support group of like minded women who can change their perception of what beauty is and redefine beauty through the truth of God's Word. This is not just a one time read. The culture standards of beauty are so ingrained in our every day lives, it will take multiple reads and constant vigilance to adjust ourselves to God's definition and stay on track without being pulled back into the old mindset

Another great section to read is from pages 67-71 which talks about THE POWER OF WORDS and THE TEMPLE OF GOD). -- "If we do not value the temple, we cease to be the temple." (p69)

Also great section about IDENTITY IN CHRIST and DAILY RENEWAL found on pages 79-82.

I really liked the information in Chapter Seven: BODY BY CHARIS that goes into more detail of how a husband sees his wife and how different it is from how a wife sees herself -- "Meanwhile, our husbands are simply enjoying us -- just as we are, not as we want ourselves to be." (p102)

The emphasis in chapter eight is that of what the world is teaching the young people of today and the importance of older women (especially in the church) to become mentors to these young ladies and show them a different point of view and help them build a different version of themselves with strong character and self esteem. -- "Sadly, the Christian community's response has been woefully inadequate...While I wholeheartedly agree that we have a standard of modesty to uphold, we've lost our ability to communicate this message to young girls...However, if we have no other standard of beauty to offer and no instruction by which they can learn their value in Christ, we cannot expect them to see the destructive force of the world's standards." (p117)

"Love the young women around you and speak truth into their lives." (p122)

Chapter Nine has a presents a wonderful realization that real beauty can be achieved -- the secret is that is comes from the inside. I took some of this last chapter and made a small poster to hang on the wall reminding me how God sees beauty.… (mehr)