Becoming a Titus 2 Woman – A Book Review

This book, by Martha Peace describes itself as “a tool to train older women to successfully mentor younger women.”  She believes that “God desires every Christian woman’s ministry to be somewhat centered around being a Titus 2 Woman and teaching and encouraging the younger women to be a Titus 2 Woman.”  Based primarily on Titus 2:3-5, the book is divided into four parts:

• When I disciple a younger woman;
• How does a Titus 2 woman act?
• What does a Titus 2 woman teach?
• Why should a Titus 2 woman teach?

The first two sections focus on the mentoring process and the character qualities of an “older woman”.  “Older” does not refer only to a woman’s age in years–it refers more importantly to the level of maturity in her Christian walk.  The older woman should be maturing in the areas of doctrine, character and ministry for Him.  The older woman is to model the godly life and teach the younger woman, through words and example.

Titus specifically instructs the older women to teach and encourage the younger women in seven specific areas.  The third section of this book focuses on how women can be obedient in doing that.  The study questions at the end of each chapter help women to understand what the Bible teaches in each of these areas.

The final section discusses the reason that older women should be teaching the younger women–“that the Word of God may not be dishonored” (Titus 2:5).  It is an encouragement that we take this mandate seriously.

The book is full of practical examples, and a woman who reads the book and completes the study questions will feel prepared to minister to younger women as instructed in Titus 2.

Running with the Giants – A Book Review

Running with the Giants is a small but mighty book authored by John C. Maxwell.  Its subtitle, “What Old Testament Heroes Want You to Know about Life and Leadership” summarizes this book in a nutshell.  In each of the ten short chapters, an Old Testament leader and hero of the faith shares a key lesson they learned in their life.  These words of wisdom are meant to encourage and empower the reader as they run their own race.  Noah, Esther, Joseph, Moses, Rebekah, Abraham, Nehemiah, the servant girl, David and Jonathan each share their life lesson in an intimate first person, conversational format.

The author begins each chapter with a little biblical/biographical background on the character and how God was working in his or her life.  From there, the character “speaks” to us, sharing a life lesson from their perspective, ending with some specific encouragement and application to the reader.  The character then shares his prayer for us.  Each chapter ends with a discussion guide that asks the reader to consider how the character may have seen certain events in his or her life, as well as personal reflection questions which make the lesson(s) applicable to the reader.

I highly recommend this small book, as it considers such significant leadership issues as when life isn’t turning out as you had planned, when you are fearful or reluctant, when problems overwhelm you, and when you think your efforts are insignificant, to name just a few.