Redefining Beautiful

Redefining Beautiful: What God Sees When God Sees You by Jenna Lucado

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I picked up Redefining Beautiful I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I mean, after all, it's a teen book and yet I am an adult woman. But being the wife of a youth pastor I figured it would be a beneficial read. What I didn't expect was for my own heart to be touched by several of Jenna's thoughts that she shared in such understandable ways.

I enjoyed the way she took our self image as a girl/woman and connected it to our relationship with our father. It is something you hear about often, yet never really explained and un-packed. And best of all, it does not matter whether you have the best of relationships with your dad or the worst because ultimately it's all about our relationship with our Perfect Father - God.

Each chapter of the book was easy to read and funny as well as being encouragement for the soul. I felt like I had just completed a Bible study and yet it's not obvious as you go through the book. I liked the format of questions - and space to answer them - woven through out the book along with little insets that really got the application across.

The only thing that I did not like was the use of "self esteem". While Jenna did do a good job of explaining that we are to see ourselves as God sees us, I think it is also important for us to realize that we can live life without having to feel great about ourselves. There is a careful balance in our self view as Romans 12:3 so well explains.

I recommend this book to young teens (and women) who are struggling to feel beautiful in God's eyes. It's a deep read, yet easy enough to do in about 4 hours.