Book Review: Let Me Be A Woman by Elisabeth Elliot

Call me biased but I have a great admiration for Elisabeth Elliot and a lot of her work!

If you have ever read any of her books, you will know that she went through many trying times in her life but she was certain of one thing - God is always worthy of our praise! Her love for the Lord is shining so brightly on every single page of this book where she shares words that she penned to her daughter. Elliot writes about the experiences they had when her daughter was young and always points everything back to Christ. She talks about the value and importance of being a woman who seeks after the Lord in all things.

Within Let Me Be A Woman, Elliot explores what it means to be a woman who is living a purposeful life for her Creator. What does it mean to truly belong to Christ and surrender all to Him? How can this truly be the desires of our hearts, reflecting in our words and our actions?

She outlines what it means to be a single, married or widowed Christian woman - if you didn’t know, throughout her life she was all of these. In a way, it makes her writing more beautiful because she is able to relate to a vast range of women regardless of their marital status. She understood what it was like to wait for the man God had for her, what it was like to have a marriage with Jesus at the centre and what it was like to lose a spouse.

Elliot so eloquently and lovingly challenges us to understand, or at least try to grasp an understanding of, how we can live a life where every aspect of our lives bring glory to God.

In the beginning of the book, Elliot talks about having an understanding that the Lord is in charge of all aspects of our lives. She states that if we can have an assurance that God is indeed in charge of the big things in our lives, then we have to believe that God also controls the little things. Being led by God is trusting Him to be in control of everything pertaining to our daily lives.

Within the book, she wrote about learning to be ‘in love with my destiny’. Something that she admitted was a slow process. Isn’t that relatable? It can definitely be a slow journey to fall in love with your destiny, especially as sometimes it can take a while to even figure out what that is!

Something that was profound, beautifully profound in fact, was the way in which Elliot referred to women. She simply wrote ‘What we are is a gift, and, like other gifts, chosen by the Giver alone.’ You are a gift that is chosen, shaped, moulded and created by God alone. Just sit with that for a moment and digest those words. Suddenly, you can start to get a better understanding of the way God sees you and how precious and loved you are.

Throughout the book, Elliot mentions more words of wisdom relating to marriage and womanhood. Let Me Be A Woman is a beautiful book, written to her daughter, that outlines what it means to be a woman. But knowing that to truly even begin to fathom what it means to be a woman, we have to set our eyes and our focus on the One who created us.

If you do get the time to read the book, I hope that it is a book that will make you smile.