Living Your Faith Book Review

Help Your Tween Become a Girl Who Lives Her Faith

Bestselling author and trusted Bible teacher Elizabeth George wants to help your tween daughter, age 8-12, understand what God’s Word is saying and how it applies to everyday life. In this interactive and guided study of the book of James, your tween daughter will discover short chapters with helpful sections, such as:

Heart Check-up—a series of insightful prompts designed to help her write about and internalize what she’s learned from each day’s devotion

A Prayer to Pray—heartfelt words she can use when she talks to God

Gems from James—powerful Scripture verses from the book of James she can study, memorize, and apply to her life

Each chapter will bring your tween daughter a greater understanding of the many life lessons to be learned in James and encourage her to be a girl after God’s own heart.

In Living Your Faith – a study of the book of James – the NIV Bible text is included so that your tween has access to the text being studied. Living You Faith prompts the reader to think about the text read by asking questions. Memorization is encouraged through fill-in-the-blank verses and re-reading of the passage being discussed. The application of the lesson is done by Elizabeth George by tying the lessons presented by James with things that may be happening in the reader’s life.

Your tween is given additional texts to read that provide additional information or clarity on the lessons covered. Also included are simple definitions. The Heart checkup questions are designed to get your tween thinking about what they read. They get an opportunity to make their own applications.

Each section ends with a prayer related to the text. The ‘Gems from James’ section has verses highlighting a key thought in the passage read. I found myself relating to some of the lessons on a personal level especially the one about taming the tongue (yes I know I’m not a tween girl but truth is truth).

Know God: The focus is on learning from God by studying the book of James. As your tween uncover what God expects from her, she also learns about the character of God. Elizabeth encourages her readers to become ‘girls after God’s own heart’.

Know yourself: As your tween learns about the character of God, her motivations and actions are held up against his – through the comparison she learns more about herself. Elizabeth, in a gentle tone, is not so much a Bible teacher as she is a girl who had been there and done that.

Run your race: The questions in the heart checkup section along with additional journal prompts, encourage your tween to make an action plan to implement the lessons learned.

Living Your Faith introduces your tween to the inductive Bible study method in a non-intimidating way. She is encouraged to look for meaning in the text by asking questions. Elizabeth guides her through the application process.

Living Your Faith is a good book to buy for a teenage girl who is trying to get deeper in her relationship with God. It would also be a good choice for a mother-daughter Bible study. I did a portion of this study with my son and he was delighted when Elizabeth referenced struggling with a subject (like Math or English) as an example of a trial.

Favorite Quotes

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

Perseverance gives you what you need to hang in there until you make it through your problem, until you make it to the end.

Genuine faith, faith that is real, always results in fruit – spiritual fruit. When your faith is real, you can’t help but do what God says.

The way you live at home shows who you really are… Bless those you live with. Then walk out your door and do the same and bless others.

There is nothing so beautiful and lovely as a girl with a humble heart.

Have you read Living Your Faith? What did you think about the book?

I received a free copy from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.