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Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms, by Tim Challies
Endorsed by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, Kimberly Wagner, Trillia Newbell, and Gloria Furman.
(Get the audiobook: downloadable or CD format.)
Featuring the mothers of John Newton, Hudson Taylor, J. Gresham Machen, John Piper, Charles Spurgeon, Augustine, D.L. Moody, Timothy, and more.
One of the best Christian Books on Motherhood
History tells of women whose love for the Bible shaped its earliest and most prominent teachers. It tells of women who were great theologians in their own right, yet whose only students were their own children. It tells, time and time again, of Christian men who owe so much to their godly mothers.
Raising children to honor and glorify the Lord is the goal of every Christian mother, but how can you do that? Who can teach you? One of the best ways to learn is to read examples of women who have succeeded at the very task you are attempting.
Come take a brief look at some of them. We will look to the church’s earliest days to find a man who owed his salvation to the careful biblical instruction he received on the lap of his mother. We will zoom forward a few centuries to a woman whose constant prayers were at last rewarded when her son came to faith and went on to become one of history’s most influential theologians. We will advance to recent centuries to see how the prayers, teaching, and examples of godly mothers have shaped evangelists, preachers, and stalwart defenders of the faith. We will learn together of Christian men and their godly moms, mothers who were used to shape the men who changed the world.
Author
Tim Challies is a Christian, husband to Aileen and the father of three children. He is a co-founder of Cruciform Press and has written several books including The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment and Sexual Detox. He worships and serves as a pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario and writes daily at http://www.challies.com.
Endorsements
“Devoted offers rich encouragement, wisdom, and hope for any mom who longs for her sons and daughters to follow, love, and serve Christ.”
—Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author, teacher, and host of Revive Our Hearts
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“Devoted offers rich encouragement, wisdom, and hope for any mom who longs for her sons and daughters to follow, love, and serve Christ.”
—Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author, teacher, and host of Revive Our Hearts
“Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms challenged, inspired, and encouraged me. Tim Challies takes the reader on an inspirational tour through history to meet moms from the first century all the way to the present day. Challies introduces us to moms who struggled in many of the same ways we moms do today. None of these women parented under ideal conditions. It was fascinating to see how God used eleven mothers, with their own unique personalities, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses, to produce great men. These are the mothers of giants in the faith, but there were no studied theologians or perfect moms in the bunch. Although their skill sets and gifting were quite varied, the common denominator was each mom’s devotion to Christ. Devoted will encourage moms (and even dads) in the trenches, but also pour out grace and hope on parents of prodigals. Reading Devoted was sheer delight and I highly recommend it.”
—Kimberly Wagner, author, Fierce Women
“As mom to a young boy, one of my prayers is that the Lord might enable me to be a great mom, but not as measured by the world. Tim has collected for us the stories of women whose greatness was largely hidden. The devoted lives of women like Elizabeth Newton, Amelia Taylor, Mary Machen, and more will inspire and encourage you. These stories and examples, so easily overlooked, are now collected and presented in this accessible and helpful book.”
—Trillia Newbell, author of God’s Very Good Idea, Enjoy, and Fear and Faith
“We look to our heroes of the faith and wonder, ‘How did she do it?’ Godly moms want their labors to make an impact in eternity, but sometimes persevering to the end of a twenty-four day seems impossible. Challies describes the powerful influence of a godly mother in articulate detail through stories of real women who have gone before us. These women believe the same gospel and cling to the same Christ, and I pray this book encourages many more mothers to follow their lead.”
—Gloria Furman, author, Missional Motherhood and Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full
Suzanne –
One of the hardest roles I’ve ever held is that of mother. It’s truly a case of on-the-job training. And because it’s so hands-on, I have tended to focus on the practical day-to-day aspects of mothering. Now that my kids are young adults (though not all launched), it’s a whole new ballgame.
With that in mind, I was so encouraged to read Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms by Tim Challies. This little book is a compilation of blogposts about the mothers of eleven men (some you’ll know, some you may not). I appreciated that the author invited Melissa Edgington to write “A Mother’s Reflection” in response to each biography. She also teamed up with Rebecca Stark to write “questions for reflection” at the end of each chapter.
Challies introduces the book this way:
HISTORY TELLS OF WOMEN WHOSE LOVE FOR THE BIBLE SHAPED ITS EARLIEST AND MOST PROMINENT TEACHERS, AND WOMEN WHOSE UNCEASING PRAYERS LED TO THE LONG-AWAITED SALVATION OF THEIR WAYWARD SONS. IT TELLS OF WOMEN WHO WERE GREAT THEOLOGIANS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, YET WHOSE ONLY STUDENTS WERE THEIR OWN CHILDREN. IT TELLS OF WOMEN WHO LAID AN EARLY FOUNDATION IN THE LIVES OF THEIR SONS THAT, DESPITE THEIR BEST EFFORTS, THEY COULD NEVER UNDERMINE. IT TELLS, TIME AND TIME AGAIN, OF EXCEPTIONAL CHRISTIAN MEN WHO OWE SO MUCH TO THEIR GODLY MOTHERS.
I gleaned so many lessons from the lives of these women.
-Don’t assume children are too young to learn important spiritual truths, or that they are too young for church to matter. Give them the opportunity to build a biblical foundation from an early age — and be sure you’re building that foundation in your own life (from John Newton’s mother).
-When your children, especially adult children, are unbelievers, “often the best ministry. . . is the minstry they will never see — private, faith-filled, daily prayers in the closet.” This ministry is fueled by “daily renewal in God’s Word” (from Christopher Yuan’s mother)
-A deep relationship with Christ, strengthened through “years of prayer, study, ministry, and the development of a biblical worldview” will enable me to respond to heartache with faith, perseverence, and trust (from William Borden’s mother).
-“[God] uses ordinary mothers to carry out his purposes” (from John Piper’s mother).
-While children are young, plead with God for their salvation . . . right in front of them” (Charles Spurgeon’s mother).
-Respond to rebellion with earnest prayer (from Augustine’s mother).
Some of these mothers were consistent in their faith, others were weaker, yet God saw fit to use each in her own way to spiritual impact her son. This, too, was encouraging to me.
I highly recommend this book. It not only makes for great devotional reading, it would also be a good small group (such as a book club) choice, with great application and discussion question already prepared.
(Note: Cruciform Press provided me with a review copy of this book; however, the views expressed are my own.)
Aaron Lee –
We just celebrated my mom’s birthday, and as a new father, I felt like it would be a fitting time to read a book like this, and I am glad that I did. While sections of this book are written directly to women, I strongly believe that boys, men, husbands, and fathers need to read this book.
Women Shaped the Men Who Changed the World
Devoted – Great Men and Their Godly Moms is a 128-page book by blogger, author, and book reviewer Tim Challies. He highlights 11 women who shaped the men who changed the world. These men are John Newton, Hudson Taylor, J. Gresham Machen, Christopher Yuan, William Borden, Charles Hodge, John Piper, Charles Spurgeon, Augustine, D. L. Moody, and Timothy.
It is clear to me that prayer plays an important role in the lives of these mothers. They are hard-working and faithful to their family. They invest in their children and are dedicated to them. While these women are not perfect, they point their children to our perfect Savior.
Reflections and Love
There are two features that make this book a worthy read and excellent resource. First, while the book is written by Tim Challies, Melissa Edgington provides a brief response to each of the biographies. These sections are appropriately titled “A Mother’s Reflection,” and she does an excellent job of summarizing the big takeaways in each chapter. Second, each chapter ends with several reflection questions. These are perfect for journaling or group discussion.
Challies presents these biographical sketches in a straightforward and simple manner. Many of the stories are marked by tragedy, and you can see the persevering faith and spiritual strength as the quality characteristics of these mothers. In some of the stories, I was moved to tears by the love that these mothers had for their sons, and ultimately, the love that they had for their Lord.
Daughters, Wives, and Mothers
As a son, I am much more appreciative of my mother, who taught me what it means to stay steadfast in the faith. And now, as a husband and father, I am much more appreciative of my wife, who seeks to raise our children in the fear of the Lord. I am driven to encourage and champion her. And I hope to lead our family to cheer on other godly daughters, wives, and moms along the way.
I was provided a complimentary copy of Devoted – Great Men and Their Godly Moms in exchange for an honest review. Read more of my book reviews and follow Dive In, Dig Deep on Instagram – my account dedicated to Bibles and books to see the beauty of the Bible and the role of reading in the Christian life.