What’s It About
In Stop Calling Me Beautiful, Phylicia Masonheimer seeks to help Christian women move beyond a watered-down version of Christianity to discover a deep personal walk with God.
As the book starts, Phylicia sheds light on a downfall of some Christian women’s ministries: taking a theology-lite, self-help approach to Christianity at the expense of training women in deep biblical truth. She lays out for us how important it is to know God deeply and personally, discern truth from error, live a victorious Christian life, and disciple others.
The following chapters focus on different areas of life, pointing us to the truth of God’s Word in those areas and how His truth transforms our real lives. Phylicia walks through topics of legalism, anxiety, grief, sexuality, community and more. Discussion questions conclude each chapter to help you process what you’ve learned either on your own or with a group.
How It Impacted Me
There’s so much insight in this entire book, but I really appreciated the chapter on overcoming legalism. I think it’s such an important conversation for Christians, and I can relate to Phylicia’s story and the lessons she’s learned.
She explains that legalism occurs when we create standards of behavior beyond what God’s biblical commands actually say, and try to pursue holiness and God’s approval from that place. A big part of my Christian journey has been sorting through Scripture to figure out what God’s Word actually says versus what are opinions of people that I accumulated or standards that I put on myself. I’ve definitely put burdens on myself in my walk with God at times and judged others for not being a Christian they way I think they should be doing it.
I’ve had to work through this in my life in areas of entertainment, politics, alcohol, dating views and more. I’ve had to grow in my ability to rightly interpret and apply the Bible. I’ve had to grow in my ability to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit into what walking simultaneously in holiness and freedom looks like. It’s partly why I started this blog–to help people navigate what it truly means to follow Jesus, not a misconstrued version of what it means to follow Jesus.
As I read the chapter on legalism, I was reminded that as I have found freedom in following the Spirit in some areas of personal conscience and preference, I have to be vigilant not to become judgmental toward people who may have different or more stringent practices than I do. Thus, embracing a different form of legalism, as Phylicia wisely communicates in the book.
I was also encouraged to continue doing what I do here. That is, pursuing the true knowledge of Jesus according to His Word, apart from popular misconceptions and extra-biblical religious burdens, as He leads me by His grace. And as I do that, I want to help both believer and nonbeliever take steps on that same journey.
Favorite Quote
“We’ve assigned this verse [Ecclesiastes 4:9-10] to romantic relationships. But context indicates it’s more likely referring to community at large. Two are indeed better than one. Even better than two? A gathering of believers supporting one another in their walk with God!…When we exalt marriage as the ideal, we miss God’s ultimate mark. Rather than encouraging people to strive for one relationship as ‘fulfillment,’ we should encourage a community of fulfilling relationships. That’s how isolation is overcome.” – Phylicia Masonheimer, Stop Calling Me Beautiful
Why You Should Read It
I really appreciate Phylicia’s heart to see women’s discipleship in the Church move from being light on theology and depth to be being biblically rich so women can be transformed by God. God’s daughters are called and equipped both intellectually and spiritually to know God deeply through His Word and help others know Him too. Honestly though, I think you can learn a lot from this book even if you are a guy.
I love that the concepts in the book are not just theory only but they’re written to help you you understand what walking with Christ looks like in practical areas of everyday life. If your heart is to pursue a genuine and rich relationship with Jesus and you want a tool to help you move forward in that direction, Stop Calling Me Beautiful is for you.
Phylicia Masonheimer is one of my favorite people to follow via social media and her blog! I’ve been so encouraged in my faith by her content and I’m so grateful her voice is present in the Christian community to build others up as well.
About The Author
Phylicia Masonheimer is a Christian blogger, podcast host, speaker and author who teaches women how to know what they believe and how to live it boldly. Phylicia lives in Northern Michigan with her husband and children. *adapted from Stop Calling Me Beautiful back cover
Connect with Phylicia: Blog | Verity Podcast | Instagram | Facebook
*Get your copy of Stop Calling Me Beautiful here
Let’s Talk: Have you read Stop Calling Me Beautiful? What impacted you most from the book? Discuss this post in the comments below.
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