A Beautiful Devotional For Young Women, Beloved from Zondervan {A Book Review}

In today’s crazy world, raising children with Biblical values is no small undertaking. As a mother of four, I know full well the challenges that we face with each and every turn. So when I learned that Zondervan had a new book, Beloved: 365 Devotions for Young Women, I was positive this was one review we were going to be happy to participate in.

Something Unique For Young Women

Uniquely created for young ladies, Beloved: 365 Devotions for Young Women, is a treasure to behold. Its small size is perfect for a backpack or purse, and can easily find room on a night-stand table as well. The hardcover exterior is made for the wear and tear needed if this book is to be read daily for a year. Perfectly feminine, the cover and interior are accented with flowers and various shades of pink and purple.

Contained within this book are 365 devotionals, space for personal notes or thoughts, and ribbon for keeping track of your reading. Instead of being dated, each page is simply numbered starting with 1, allowing you to start your reading at any time of the year.

And if you are thinking of gifting this book, there is even a page where you can write that as well.

A Biblical Journey

While this book is too advanced for my youngest daughter (4), my older daughter (13) enjoyed reading this devotional. While she preferred to read independently, beginning with page one, I instead took another approach, jumping around and reading throughout the book. I was pleased to see that the author, Lindsay A. Franklin, included verses and stories from nearly 60 women of the Bible. It is clear right from page one and throughout, that the author’s desire to encourage and inspire the young ladies who read this devotional. Pulling from Biblical passages, the author carefully weaves truth, passion, and guidance with each page.

Staring on day 1, Lindsay reminds the reader that they are valued, adored, and cherished – a reminder that not just our daughter’s need to hear in today’s loud, demanding, and depressing world. She then moves into Creation and Proverbs 31 before seamlessly starting a path of following both the well-known and lesser-known women of the Bible including Eve, Sarah, Hannah, Potifer’s Wife, Tamar, and Mary. Interestingly enough, there are also some notable men included in Beloved, including Noah, King David, and even Joseph.

Each day offers a verse of scripture, a short devotional that inspires thought and self-reflection, and a spot for taking notes. These notes could be changes the reader may be inclined to make, a thought that really stood out, or goal they want to work on. Instead of jumping around the Bible each day, Beloved does a great job allowing the reader to spend multiple days with the same Biblical character taking multiple lessons from each person. Lessons include knowing our value (day 93), teaching others from our past mistakes (day 102), facing giants in our life (day 135), and going through trials (day 284) – all things pertinent to today’s young ladies.

And while I did jump around, I would recommend that the young women who read this devotional do not. It is presented chronologically, similar to the Bible, and will be better understood and utilized reading from start to finish in order. Often I would find a page, then go back to read the entire section of the book covering a particular character in order to fully understand the information being offered.

Our Thoughts On “Beloved”

Overall my daughter has told me that she enjoyed her time reviewing this book. The daily reading was quick and easy and allowed her to learn something new at the same time. As a parent, I don’t think I could ask for much more. For the most part, I do think this devotional is a good one, but there were a couple of things this Mom (and youth group leader) didn’t fully love.

First, the verses of scripture are all NIV (New International Version). In our home, we prefer KJV (King James Version). While this is more of a personal preference, the differences in some of the verses listed in the devotional from what the KJV states are notable. Honestly, though, this is not necessarily a deal-breaker for us.

The second thing to note, and this is less of a dislike and more of a disclaimer – this book is a devotional for young woman, rather than young ladies. Some of the topics covered, such as purity, sex, and adultery, may be more than you want your daughter covering. While they are all addressed from a Biblical standpoint, some of the devotionals are quite frank and may be a bit much for your daughter. This would be a great time for some wonderful conversations though on the Biblical definitions of marriage and the importance of following God’s rules on this matter.

All things considered, Beloved: 365 Devotions for Young Women from Zondervan is a wonderful devotional. We are going to keep reading through it, both my daughter and I, to continue seeing what wonderful tidbits be can glean from this beautiful devotional.

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Want to see inside Beloved: 365 Devotions for Young Women? Check out my live video here!