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A few years ago, I had the privilege of going through the book Becoming A Woman of Purpose by Cynthia Heald with a group of women at my church in California. I remember being both challenged and encouraged by that book and was ecstatic when I received the opportunity to review the 30th anniversary edition of Cynthia’s book Becoming A Woman of Excellence.
The premise of this book is, taken from Ruth 3:11 in which Ruth is referred to as a worthy woman or, a woman of excellence. What I enjoyed most about this work is that it is saturated in Scripture! I presumed that anything by Cynthia would be solid since my previous church had recommended her books but I always like to read books for myself and see how they match up to Scripture.
Overall, Cynthia’s book is theologically rich and cuts to the heart of issues women deal with including Godly character, discipline, purity, and wisdom. The book can be summed up with Cynthia’s words on page 15,
“We want to become women of excellence because we are children of an excellent God.”
Cynthia does use multiple Bible translations in her book, which I am not a fan of but it seemed she did so in order to help her readers understand the words that are used in the verses mentioned. I appreciate the heart behind this but when we don’t know what Scripture says according to translations that are closest to it’s original languages, I fear that we may become lazy students of Scripture. Let this be an exhortation to you to study and know God’s word!
One small concern I had with this book was Cynthia’s admission of “unmistakably hearing God’s voice” in her heart (pg. 50). If you’ve read previous book reviews of mine, you may be tired of me pointing out that God doesn’t speak to us today outside of His word (Deuteronomy 4:2, Deuteronomy 12:32, Proverbs 30:6, Revelation 22:18). Since Becoming A Woman of Excellence is overall theologically sound, I doubt that Cynthia meant to convey this sentiment yet since some may find it concerning, I found it necessary to point it out.
I really enjoyed Becoming A Woman of Excellence and am pleased to give it my highest recommendation. I can’t wait to gift a copy of the book to my sisters for Christmas and my mom for her birthday. Ladies, if you are looking for a Bible study that will enhance your knowledge of Scripture while challenging you to grow into the woman God is calling you to be, look no further.
I received Becoming A Woman of Excellence courtesy of Tyndale in exchange for my honest review.
