Review of "Made to Crave for Young Women: Satisfying Your Deepest Desires With God" by Lysa Terkeurst & Shaunti Feldhahn--Not Just For Teens

 Made to Crave for Young Women: Satisfying Your Deepest Desires
with God by Lysa Terkeurst & Shaunti Feldhahn is a book that speaks to women of all ages.  I was drawn in by the subtitle of the book, Satisfying Your Deepest Desires with God.  I really struggle with this, but I know that is what the Christian life is all about.  I read the rest of the book's description, and it seemed like it had some fresh ideas that weren't what is normally covered in a lot of the Christian Living books out there.  I did see that it is for Young Women and it seemed like it was aimed at high-school teenagers.  I saw that there was also another Made to Crave that is for women, but that one is just all about a woman's struggle with food, eating and weight and how she puts those cravings ahead of God.  This Made to Crave for Young Women seemed to cover a lot more areas of struggles besides food that I thought would be more helpful to me. 

Once I read it, I was so glad I had decided to give it a try!  If you struggle in any other area besides eating, I would recommend this book over the other one because of the wider variety of examples and struggles that the authors cover.  Of course, you have to remember that the two authors are speaking mostly to a teen audience, but as I am in my mid-20s and read a lot of young adult books, it did not bother me.  It is also written in a way so that anyone can relate to it.  Don't we all still deal with the same struggles that we dealt with in high school anyway, in some form or another?  I know I do.  Sorry for those who are still in high school, but those struggles do not go away, they just keep coming back in different forms.  That's why it is so important to learn as early on as possible how to conquer those struggles with God's help!  Lysa and Shaunti give the reader great practical advice on how to do that and make God our number one heart's desire.

The main point of the book is that we as humans put other desires and things in our lives before God.  These "things" are what the authors call "God substitutes."  They are emotional
(the desire to be loved and accepted), physical (to be comforted by physical satisfaction and pleasure) and material cravings (a desire for something that makes us feel special, improved or new).  These aren't necessarily bad desires in themselves.  The problem comes when we automatically go to them first instead of God.  These are desires that God wants to satisfy and only He truly can. 

There are so many good things that I appreciate about this book.  I love how Lysa and Shaunti go through each of the desires and give examples of what they are and how to overcome them.  The authors are honest, genuine and down-to-earth.  Lysa and Shaunti also give engaging personal stories from their lives to which many will be able to relate.

I find it to be very helpful that practical examples are interspersed throughout the book.  Each chapter has a step-by-step action plan at the end that gives the reader a way to apply that chapter to her life.
An example is how Lysa and Shaunti believe one's cravings can be retrained.  You will crave what you are focusing on.  They give ways to change one's thought pattern by replacing the negative thoughts with positive ones through Scripture (they provide the reader with specific Scripture and exercises to help with this).  By filling themselves with God and Scripture, the reader can be satisfied with God alone.

This is truly a wonderful read and I grew in my walk with Christ as a result of this book!  I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.  It is a clean read. 

I want to thank Zondervan, Lysa Terkeurst & Shaunti Feldhahn  for the complimentary copy of this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I express in this review are my own. This is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR 16, Part 255.

For more information on Lysa Terkeurst, go to her website.
For more information on Shaunti Feldhahn, go to her website.
Tons of resources and freebies on Made to Crave for Young Women at this site.
Go here to read the first chapter.