A Women’s Resolution?
In the fall of 2010, I had the privilege of watching the very first pre-showing of the movie Courageous during my internship at Focus on the Family. It was a night that changed my life. As I walked out of the theater, I began asking the promoters and Courageous staff what they were going to do for women. While the movie specifically focuses on encouraging men, as a woman, I walked away very challenged as well. Challenged to pray for and encourage the guys around me by the way I lived.
A year later, when The Resolution for Women came out, I quickly purchased a copy and began to read — but with a lot of skepticism. The movie was so good, the actors and staff were men and women of integrity, and my experience with them at Focus was life-changing. However, I was very cautious about the book.
I’d never heard of the author before, and I didn’t want to read a book that would spoil my memories and experience with Courageous. It’s been rare that I’ve read a book following a movie and found it to be any good. I was also really sick and tired of the Christian book bandwagon — the whole “every Christian is reading this so I should too, but it doesn’t really change my life because I’m just reading it to be cool”.
Praise God, this one was a bandwagon worth jumping on! It blew my skepticism instead. I was very pleasantly surprised at the content of the book. Priscilla Shirer’s book The Resolution for Women is for married and single women alike. Laid out in very simple, easy-to-follow sections and chapters, the book address what it means to live as women of integrity and grace in our world today. Priscilla hits on many areas of life and the book flows naturally from one section to the next. Each section has a short resolution (a promise between you and the Lord) to sign after discussing in depth what that resolution will look like in your life.
The resolutions include:
“I will seek to devote the best of myself, my time, and my talents to the primary roles the Lord has entrusted to me in this phase of life.” (The Resolution for Women, by Priscilla Shirer, p.110)
“I will champion God’s model for womanhood in the face of a post-feminist culture. I will teach it to my daughters and encourage its support by my sons.” (The Resolution for Women, by Priscilla Shirer, p.48)
No matter what season of life you are in, Priscilla will challenge you to live resolutely and courageously for the Lord – right where you are.
“Contentment is the equilibrium between the enjoyment of life now and the anticipation of what is to come. Contentment serves as a guard against desires gone wild. It is the key to unlock you from the bondage of unrestrained longing that wells up within your heart and inevitably begins to control your life, making you a slave to what you don’t have instead of a fully engaged participant with what you do. It is a faith filled belief that what God has bestowed now is worthy of gratitude and appreciation, not merely because it is enough, but because it is good.” (The Resolution for Women, by Priscilla Shirer, p.28)
The Resolution for Women book should be a must read; not because it’s cool on the Christian book-reading bandwagon right now, but because it will challenge and change you. It will be a book that I recommend highly and give to both old and new Christians alike!
(To read a review on the companion book — The Resolution for Men, please visit the Manturity blog.)
To win a give away copy of The Resolution for Women, please comment with your answer to this question: What one character trait do you want to grow in as a woman — and why? (For example: I want to grow in grace, and become a women of quiet grace and strength. I’m quite passionate, and wish to be able to serve my family and friends better by balancing that out with more grace.) A winner will be chosen on March 9th. (Congratulations to Ashley for winning a copy of The Resolution for Women!)
Ladies, speaking of resolutions and “Courageous”, check out this inspiring read and resolution from Sarah Mae: “A Resolution for Mothers”.
Wow! What a pleasant surprise to find that I won. Thank you so, so much!!! I look forward to reading this book! 🙂
I love the movie Courageous! Resolution for Women sounds like a great book to read. As far as character traits I would like to grow in, just to name a few – I want to have more faith, and to be more calm and joyful.
Guess what, Ashley? Random.org selected Comment #27 as the winner of Resolution for Women–and you’re it! 🙂
I want to grow in trust, to be able to be more submissive and uphold the leadership of the men in my life.
I’ve been wanting this book for awhile. The movie was amazing! 🙂
I am seeking to be a gentle, quiet and trusting woman of God. It is against my natural inclinations of impulsiveness, drama and worrisome thoughts. 🙂
I would like to live my life pleasing The LORD, living the Fruits of the Spirit. I’d like for others to see
Jesus’ light when they look at me. I especially want to live my life in such a way that will
be a legacy for my daughter. I have failed in so many ways as a mother and I hope that
there will be portions of my life that will inspire her and know how much she was loved.
I want to be more compassionate. It is easy to be focused on myself and my problems, but I want my eyes to be open to the needs of others.
More than one! But the biggest, perhaps, is wanting to grow in productivity and helpfulness to others.
I think I need to add this to be TBR pile, sounds like a wonderful, convicting book!
I desire to grow more passionate for the Lord: Sometimes I feel like I’m more of a wiffle-waffle Christian.
I want to grow in strength, dignity, and the confidence to face the future…”She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” Proverbs 31:25
I desire to grow in steadfast faithfulness to Christ and be an consistent overcomer in the many distractions that so easily beset me in my christian walk, taking time away from time spent with Christ and serving him wholeheartedly.
I want to grow in confidence. As a nurse in training, I realize that I do not possess that confidence necessary to perform various skills. I react very shyly when it comes to skills and I want my patients to know that they can trust me because I am confident in what I’m doing.
I want my husband to see this as well because I can be very indecisive at times. I think it is important that people see that I am confident in who I am as an individual and that I know what I want in life.
I want to grow in contentment. I live with much that is not yet or unresolved. It is a challenge for me to stop analyzing, planning and problem solving to rest in the uncomfortable.
What an honest review! Sounds like quite the edifying book…thanks for the giveaway!
I want to grow in gratitude. So often I just blow on by the leaves waltzing with the wind across the pavement or the sun sending streaks of crimson through the sky and don’t pause and thank Him. Recognizing the little gifts and seeing the way He paints “I love you” across my life…I want to get better at that.
I want to grow in learning to speak the truth in love, always. And be more eternally-minded; always keeping that perspective. And being more submissive and respectful!
Thank you for entering me 🙂
I would love to be more giving and compassionate. These are areas I really need to work on.
I would like to grow in grace because I want to be able to display Christ more in my life and to those I’m around. That is something that I am really lacking in.
I desire to grow more with God’s grace, in PERSEVERANCE and FAITHFULNESS.
In perseverance, to keep my eyes always on the Lord in this race that that He has given me., in my God-given role as a wife and mother.
“..And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us…By keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends…”
In Faithfulness, that I would continue to be faithful in following His perfect steps as I strive to teach my children His Word, to love and serve my husband as God wants me to, and desiring Him in all I do. “Faithful is He who calls you, Who will also bring it to pass”
I want to grow in my ability to show genuine respect to my husband, brothers, father, and other men the Lord brings me in contact with. As a woman it is often difficult to really understand what respect looks like to a man, but I’m seeking to learn and practice it each day.
I would like to grow in patience because I have a strong tendency to take matters into my own hands instead of entrusting them to the Lord. Especially when it comes to men. I want to be able to wait upon the Lord so I can receive His best. I know that this is the only way that I will ever be satisfied.
Wow … now I want to read this book too! It sounds so good – so genuinely inspiring. Thank you for sharing, Katie! 🙂
(I’m not entering the giveaway, by the way! 🙂 )
I want to be more heaven-focused. God has been showing me how much I care for this world, which is fleeting. I need to know that this world is for working, for laboring in preaching the gospel, and my true joy is in heaven. “Whom have I in heaven but thee, and what on earth do I desire beside thee?”
Your review makes me want to read this book sooner than later. (It’s in my to-read stack along with a bunch of other books that, ahem, must be read in March…so it will be after March! ;))
Thank you, Katie!
I thought the same thing! Will have to get to it soon!
I want to grow more in trusting God. Today has been so tough in trusting God and my husband to know what is best for us, but I know it is just making me grow in trusting them.
I want to grow in consistency … I am emotional, sensitive, and intuitive, all of which has their good sides!!, but I want to be more consistently quiet-hearted, patient, and trusting, to serve the Lord and my husband and son.
I know that I need to be more deliberate about my actions, using the time that God has given me to accomplish more. It can be easy for me to fritter my time away, doing meaningless activities as time slips through my fingers, never to be seen again. Instead, I want to live in a such a way that I bring glory to God and accomplish what he has for me to do here on earth.
Only one?!?! 🙂 I love the ones posted so far, both grace and JOY. But I would also love to grow in kindness and sweetness. The way I treat my siblings, my friends and the people whom I don’t know. This is what I pray for.
It is my desire to by JOYFUL. There is nothing more attractive than a joyful Christian…and by this I mean that it attracts others to Christ. They want to know why you are always so happy, why you are content in all things and why joy radiates from you even in the hard times. It draws them towards the reason for your joy: Jesus Christ. I want to draw others to Him and that is why I desire to be joyful… brimming with joy, joy-filled.
It is my desire to be more grace-FILLED. I want to learn to live more and more in the abundant grace that is offered by our precious Savior on a daily basis and I want to grow in graciousness toward others. Letting them see Jesus through His work in my heart.