Liberty and I have had the privilege to review a Bible study book from Doorposts for ages 12 and up called Beauty in the Heart: A Study of Godly Beauty for Young Women as part of the Old Schoolhouse Magazine and their Review Crew. Liberty is just ten years old, a bit below the recommended age group. She and I have done the study together – necessary for her at her age and level of understanding, but it worked well for us.
The first thing I noticed was that we weren’t just studying beauty. We weren’t just studying from your typical places in Scripture. We were all over the Old and New Testament, and we were studying different methods for Scripture study. It was teaching how to study alongside the study itself. With a concordance pretty much required and a new set of colored pencils in hand to highlight Scripture, we set out to learn about beauty and what God says about it. The questions, I found, were pretty open ended. Some of them we found hard to find the answers to, but when we were finished, we’d read and studied and cross referenced and looked for authors and timelines and learned so much.
There are ten different studies that spend a few days to a week on each topic. They include:
- Beauty in Submission
- Beauty in the Heart
- Beauty in Trusting God
- Beauty in Humility
- Beauty in Modesty
- Beauty in Serving
- Beauty without Discretion
- Beauty in Crisis
- Beauty in the Gates
- Beauty in Review
The study touches on many women in Scripture – like Sarah, Ruth, and Esther. It has the studier reading large amounts of Scripture. No fluff here! Liberty has never done a specific study like this before, and this one took her into the deep end. She loved it – and the time she got to spend with me, one on one. We both learned a lot and I can’t wait to do this study again with each of my girls as they approach their teenage years. Modesty is a much-discussed topic in our home, and not something we’ve fought about (yet…) but learning what the Bible says about this topic and several others was fantastic. With a mother who loves jewelry, adornment was another great topic to study and discuss.
At this point, I’ll not hesitate to jump into any Doorposts study, expecting quality. It uses KJV and ESV, both versions I appreciate, but it’s easy enough to use your own version. Marking up your Bible is encouraged – something I cringe at, but I need to get over it. Liberty jumped into that with both feet and loved the color coordination of it. My perfectionist child found her niche.
Beauty in the Heart is written by Pam Forster, sells for $14.00 and contains 86 days of study broke down into five days a week spending 5-20 minutes a day. Special bonus: use the coupon “beautystudy” in your shopping cart to get a free instant-download PDF copy of the Bible study when you pre-order the paperback (Print books will ship by 8/29. Special ends 8/31). To order the book, read Doorposts’ description, and view sample pages, click here.
To read more reviews on this book and Because You Are Strong: A Study of Godly Strength for Young Men, check out the Review Crew Blog.
Loved your review. You always do such a great job with them. Kudos to you Adrienne.