True Beauty — And True Wisdom

Carolyn Mahaney and her daughter Nicole Mahaney Whitacre have written an important new book, Girl Talk: Mother-Daughter Conversations on Biblical Womanhood [Crossway Books]. The book belongs in the hands of every young woman. Here’s a sample of what you will find:
Our culture puts forth a false standard of beauty and a false message about beauty. But ultimately, it’s the sin of our hearts that motivates us to believe them. These lies appeal to the things our hearts desire. We desperately want success, recognition, significance, importance, and approval.
For mothers and daughters, Scripture reveals the falsehood and the futility of the quest for physical beauty. ‘Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain’ (Prov. 31:30). This word charm actually means ‘bodily form.’ It is perfect form and beauty that our culture esteems and pursues with fervor, yet God exposes this pursuit as sinful. Nowhere in the Bible are women instructed to wish for, ask for, or strive for physical beauty. Neither does the Bible portray physical beauty as a blessing for those who have it.
Now, Carolyn [wife of C. J. Mahaney] and Nicole, along with the other two Mahaney daughters, Kristen Mahaney Chesemore and Janelle Mahaney Bradshaw, have started a weblog, Girl Talk — Conversations on Biblical Womanhood and other Fun Stuff.  Girls only, of course.  Pass the word along.