In the middle of "Captivating"

I have been reading Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. I know that they are a very controversial couple among certain groups because of their specific interpretations of what it means to be a man or a woman. However, putting certain bits aside, I have benefited greatly from reading this book.

The key point is that if you are not satisfied with yourself as a woman, it is because you are not being who you want to be and were created to be. Sin and the devil have attacked you both within and without because true Beauty is weapon of their greatest enemy. True Beauty is living confident of being loved by Jesus. When we know His love, we are freed from sin and the lies of the devil. We don't have to conform to the expectations place on us by ourselves or by others. We are free to be who we were created to be.

The book goes through and helps define where we have picked up wounds in our past that have made us hide who we really are, create defenses so we don't get hurt, and put on a mask that is acceptable to the people we want to satisfy. It focuses on wounds given to girls and women by their families (father, mother, husbands), but it can be applied to wounds given by others (girlfriends, the church, co-workers, etc).

After seeing what the wounds are, it shows ways that different women react - the different defenses that they put up. Whether or not my defenses look like their examples, the truth remains that when I have been wounded, I put up defenses. I have hidden myself so I don't get hurt by "them" anymore. But it doesn't stop there.

The part I just read was a meditation of Jesus' love for us. I don't know how to write about it because it could sound so cheesy or ordinary, but going through the meditation was beautiful. Thinking from different perspectives about how much God loves me soothed aches that I didn't even know had existed previously. It was beautiful and thrilling.

I know the book isn't for everyone, but I also know that Jesus is. His love grows more and more beautiful the more I learn about it. And I hope that it is changing me, making me to be the woman I was created to be.