Highly anticipated follow-up to the True Woman 101 Bible study for women When we step into God’s plan for womanhood, we step into the great adventure of discovering who we’re created to be. The greatest display of God’s glory, the greatest wholeness of personhood, the greatest joy of human relationships, and the greatest fruitfulness in ministry come about when we embrace and celebrate His design. In this Bible study for women, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth and Mary Kassian delve into Titus 2 to celebrate redeemed womanhood. Exploring 10 “design elements” of biblical womanhood, they will lead you on a 10-week journey of discovering what a beautiful heart looks like, and how it leads to a beautiful life. Each week is divided into five lessons that provide opportunity for group interaction and delving deep into Scripture. You'll explore the following The Lord wants to come in and do a radical renovation of your heart. He wants to change you into a godly woman from the inside out. If you let Him, He’ll give you an extreme makeover . . . a new interior design . Why wait? Begin your renovation today.
Mary Kassian is an award winning author, popular speaker, and a distinguished professor of women’s studies at Southern Baptist Seminary. She has published several books, Bible studies and videos, including: Girls Gone Wise, In My Father’s House: Finding Your Heart’s True Home, Conversation Peace, Vertically Inclined, and the Feminist Mistake.
Mary graduated from the faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine from the University of Alberta, Canada and has studied systematic theology at the doctoral level. She has taught courses at seminaries across North America She is a popular conference speaker and has ministered to women’s groups internationally. Mary has appeared on numerous radio and television shows, including Focus on the Family, Family Life Today, and Marriage Uncensored.
Mary was born and raised in Edmonton, Canada. She and her husband, Brent, have three adult sons and one daughter-in-law. Mary has mastered the art of cheering after spending countless hours in rinks, arenas, and gyms: her husband is chaplain for a professional football team, her two older sons play ice hockey, and her youngest, volleyball. The Kassians enjoy biking, hiking, snorkeling (when they can find some warm water!), music, board games, mountains, campfires, and their family pets: Miss Kitty and black lab, General Beau.
This was a great follow up study to True Woman 101, going through 10 character traits mentioned by Paul in Titus 2.
This study will challenge cultural assumptions about being a woman who loves Jesus, and will challenge you to swim against the tide. Women were meant to be different from men, and Christian women are meant to be different from the world. It's not a burden, it's a blessing and a joy to live into the way you were made to be.
(Side note, if you want much of the same content in a book rather than a study, check out Elisabeth Elliot's "Let Me Be A Woman". Even though it was written half a century ago, it is still incredibly relevant and covers most of the same themes in bite-sized chapters.)
I’m not sure how I first came across True Woman 201: Interior Design: Ten Elements of Biblical Womanhood by Mary Kassian and Nancy Leigh DeMoss (now Wolgemuth). But I saw that it was a study of Titus 2:1, 3-5, a passage I’m very much interested in, and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read of Nancy’s writings. In fact, I’ve been asking myself why I haven’t read more of her. My “interior design” can always use some work, so this seemed like a good book to work through.
It is set up as a ten week study for either an individual or a group. Each week contains five daily 15-minute or so readings around one particular “design element.” There are leader resources as well as videos which run about 20 minutes that cover the highlights of the lessons on TrueWoman201. So a group studying together would work through the lessons for the week, meet together and watch that week’s video, and then discuss the lessons. I only watched 3 or so of the videos. Though they did provide a good recap, I just didn’t feel inclined to listen to the same things I had just read.
Normally when you hear Titus 2:1-5 preached or taught, people hone in on a woman’s responsibility to love her husband and children, be submissive to her husband, and be a “keeper at home,” with much debate over exactly what that last one involves. Off the top of my head I can only think of one time where I have heard the whole passage dealt with, and that was at a lady’s conference where there were sessions on each section. So I very much appreciated that the authors here dealt with every part of the passage, beginning with verse 1. Titus is told to “teach what accords with sound doctrine,” and the authors explain that one’s doctrine is a set of beliefs and that “sound” doctrine is healthy, without contamination. They discuss the use of a “plumb line” in decorating or building to help one’s work to stay straight and show how we need to use the “plumb line” of Scripture to make sure we’re “in accord with sound doctrine,” “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14).
They go on to discuss honor, affection, discipline, virtue, responsibility, benevolence, disposition, legacy, and beauty.
They stress that God’s design for genders is not fluid according to whatever the world’s thoughts are: they’re a part of “sound doctrine.” On the other hand, they agree that God’s design doesn’t turn out cookie cutter Christians who all look the same, that how this works out in a life might differ from woman to woman. I appreciated that while they held fast to those areas where Scripture is specific, they dealt evenhandedly with controversial issues like a woman working outside the home, sharing a list of Biblical women who had other kinds of jobs, but stressing the primary ministry of home and family. They mention also that though many of these characteristics should be true of men as well, there are reasons that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to list some characteristics for men and some for women.
If there is a “201,” there must have been a “101,” and there was: True Woman 101: Divine Design, which focuses on God’s plan and design for womanhood. I have not read it yet but probably will some day. It looks like it’s laid out the same as this was with 5 daily readings for each chapter, covering eight weeks rather than ten.
Back to True Woman 201: I thought the layout was a bit distracting at first. The spiritual “interior design” theme was couched in a similarities to the design of a home, and there are lots of photos relating to that kind of thing scattered throughout the pages. Verses and quotes are in sidebars. I got used to it after a while, and it’s a minor complaint. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this study. I appreciated the authors’ thorough and gracious treatment of the topic and I can enthusiastically recommend it to you.
Excellent study!! I've done the True Woman 101 and it was really good but I found this one even better! Very convicting but in an encouraging way! The lessons were clear and helped draw out your inner thoughts on God's word and how to apply it to your life. Each lesson had great insight and take away, and could be completed in about 15 minutes a day. I went through it with a friend and I would highly encourage anyone wanting to do this to find a friend or small group to share it with. It's nice to talk out your ideas, thoughts, struggles and hopes that this study brings out with someone else - plus the accountability is helpful to keep you going for the whole ten weeks! I'd recommend this study to anyone looking to get a deeper understanding of God's true and unique design for womanhood and what that looks like in today's world!
I can't say enough good things about this study. Mary and Nancy have communicated the complete Biblical Womanhood concept with ten different design elements broken down into manageable and fun lessons. Every woman should go through this study. It will change the way you look at every aspect of your life, including yourself! Very, very good :)
We must know that God created women differently than men. He designed us to be unique and not men. Great book study for Biblical principals of being a woman. The world’s view of what women should do or be is not God’s view. Older women must teach the younger women. I must teach my daughter. Glad I have another guide to help me.
True Woman 201 is a bible study centered around Titus 2:3-5, the model for both mentorship and biblical womanhood. I did the study with an older woman, meeting every couple of weeks to discuss one of the 10 lessons. It's hard for me to completely separate what I gleaned from the wisdom of the woman I met with from the actual study itself. I think the study provided an excellent guide for conversation, but without the mentor relationship I don't know that I would have gotten that much out of the study. But really - one of Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth's main platforms is spiritual mentorship, so I assume she wrote the book hoping and anticipating that older women would lead younger women through it. If that's the case, her design was executed perfectly. The study is organized and the aim of each chapter is clear, which provided an ideal outline for working through the various aspects of biblical womanhood.
There is one lesson at the end that wraps up the entire study, asking us to define and describe each of the 10 aspects of biblical womanhood covered in the book. This was a great exercise for me since we had taken 6 months to cover the material and I thought it really tied each chapter together and left me with a clear concept of the woman Titus 2 is describing. On the other hand, I thought the chapter on disposition (SUBMISSION) could have been better. It's not that I disagreed with the points they made, but I think they failed to address the parts of the bible regarding submission that Christian woman really struggle to understand (e.g. 1 Corinthians 14:34). I wish they had gone into the idea of submission as a punishment (Genesis 3:16). The chapter wasn't terrible by any means, but I just think it could have been much, much stronger.
I also think I would have liked the study as a whole better if it was written more like a book. 95% of the pictures were a total waste of space. At some point I hope to read Nancy's book Adorned and I'm curious to see if I like that better just because of the way it's physically laid out as a book.
Overall, if you have a mentor/mentee to go through True Woman 201 with, I would recommend it as a study. If you're hoping to do a study of biblical womanhood on your own, I might look elsewhere.
This was a phenomenal study on the attributes of godly womanhood. Studying a different attribute each week for 10 weeks gave me a fresh understanding of what is expected of me as a young-to- some and old-to-others Titus 2 woman. I appreciated the stories woven throughout the study as they were relatable and thought-provoking. Nancy always does such a fantastic job of pulling everything together, and this work with Mary is no different! Definitely recommend!
Excelente libro que nos ayuda a pensar en el verdadero diseño de Dios para la mujer, si tienes dudas de lo que Dios quiere y tiene para ti, este libro te ayudará a comprender 10 elementos de la feminidad bíblica, te guiará a abrazarlos, como la verdad bella y perfecta que tiene Dios para tu vida, que el Señor te bendiga mientras aprendes, y cambie tu manera de pensar.
Such a great discussion on the topic of what it means to be a woman after God's own heart. In 201, they talk about what this means specifically from the second chapter of Titus, but also from all over the Bible. Packed with great homework and beautiful images, small groups like ours will really enjoy learning together.
Bible Study that’s great to work thru with a friend
A dear dear childhood friend recommended that we work thru this study together after completing True Woman 101, and it was very worth doing/thought provoking/evoked prayers.
Excellent counter culture study! If your looking to be challenged, the book itself said it best, it’s “helping to lead a counterrevolution to reclaim it,”. If you want to reclaim Gods design on womanhood these studies are essential.
Confrontante, desafiante, y sobre todo de mucha enseñanza. Me permitió ver mis fallas a la luz de la escritura y cómo puedo abrazar la feminidad bíblica.
Excellent follow up to 101. Great elements of biblical womanhood. Very challenging & encouraging for how to live out being a Christian woman in a difficult culture.