Book Of The Month: Bad Girls Of The Bible

I'm doing this thing where I blog about my favorite book of the month. I think it helps promote a reading culture. Now, I'm not saying everybody has to have a reading habit. I do know however that, if you desire a reading habit, this is one way to start. Designate a realistic amount of books to be read in one week or one month. It doesn't matter if I only read one book; that book becomes the book of the month. So of course, Year of Yes was the book for February. The book for March is this gem: Bad Girls of the Bible (And What We Can Learn From Them). Let's just say it's packed with lots of goodness. Although it focuses on ten bad women of the bible, the important thing is how any of us could have been that bad girl. A lot of times, when we read about some of these women in the bible, it's quite easy to judge them or wonder what on earth they were thinking or how could they be so vile. However, the intrinsic traits these women demonstrated are qualities you and me sometimes possess.

"Badness doesn't have to be dramatic. It can be something on the sidelines: an unkind word, a whisper of gossip, a neglected request, an unrepentant attitude, an intentionally forgotten event."

In a way, the book can be a mirror. Instead of our usual focus on the amazing girls of the bible like Mary, Ruth, Hannah, Esther, who were righteous, innocent, courageous, beautiful even; this book examines women that are more like you and me. And even if you're the perfect Christian girl, you can still learn what NOT to do from these girls.

The book starts with Eve, the First Bad Girl. Then proceeds with Potiphar's wife, Delilah, and Jezebel who were Bad to the Bone.

"These were women of whom not a single kind word was recorded. Women who had pattern of sinning, with no evidence of remorse or a desire to change, who sinned with gusto bad beginning to bitter end. Because they were made in the image of God, as we were, these Bad Girl weren't truly rotten to the core. They just behaved that way—and very convincingly."

The next three girls, she described as Bad for a Moment: Lot's wife, Sapphira, and Michal.

"These were three good...uh...bad examples of women who made one colossal blooper--one big, life-changing mistake that was such a bell ringer it was recorded for posterity, chiming across the centuries. These three women were, by all appearances, believers in the one true God at the start, but when forced to make a choice, they each chose disastrously."

The final three girls were Bad for a Season but not forever: Rahab, the Woman at the Well, and the Sinful Woman who anointed Jesus' feet with her tears.

"Yes, they all had plenty of sin in their past, but they also were willing to change and be changed. What a joy to watch their encounters with God redeem them for eternity!"

What I especially love is how she begins each chapter (girl) with a fictitious version of the girls in question. You would of course already have an idea of the girl in question once you begin, but seeing how she narrates it is particularly interesting. I'm sure if you love a good fiction, you'd love that. At the end of each chapter, she mentions what we can learn from each girl. With Rahab for instance, even though she was once a prostitute, she would later be one of only two women to be in the Hebrews wall of fame. With God, it doesn't matter who you were, it matters what you are becoming.

So, that's it. I hope you read the book. Even more, I hope you learn a thing or two on how to be a better person. I also hope you imbibe a healthier habit of improving your mind, which can be achieved through reading.

I know this is coming April, but it really is the book of March lol.

Have a blessed April.

Love,
I