Nice Girls Don't Change the World [Hardcover]

Lynne Hybels (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 2005

Margaret Mead said: 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.' My version of that quote is: 'Never doubt that a community of thoughtful, committed women, filled with the power and love of God, using gifts they have identified and developed, and pursuing passions planted in them by God---never doubt that these women can change the world.'---Lynne Hybels Nice Girls are taught early that serving God means earning God's love and sacrificing oneself to meet the needs of others. Unfortunately, after living a life she thought was what God demanded, her husband wanted, her kids needed, and her church expected, Lynne Hybels felt utterly lost---both to herself and to God. In this wise and tender book, Hybels tells of her struggle to stop living someone else's life and to reclaim the unique gifts, strengths, and passions God gave her. And she reveals how turning away from her false view of God as a harsh and demanding taskmaster enabled her to rest at last in God's sustaining love. As she explains, it's never too late to discover that who you really are is exactly what delights God and what the world needs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lynne Hybels joined her husband, Bill, in starting Willow Creek Community Church in 1975. She has edited many books and is coauthor of Rediscovering Church and Fit to Be Tied. She has been involved in Willow Creek's ministry partnerships in Latin America and currently serves as an advocate for those affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. SPANISH BIO: Lynne Hybels junto a su esposo Bill inicio Willow Creek Community Church en 1975. Ha editado varios libros y es coautora de Rediscovering Church y Fit to Be Tied. Ha colaborado con asociaciones del ministerio de Willow Creek en Latinoamerica y actualmente trabaja como defensora de los afectados por el HIV/SIDA en Africa. Lynne y Bill residen en los suburbios de Chicago y tienen dos hijos adultos.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

I want to tell you about someone I used to know very well. She was a nice girl: obedient, polite, socially acceptable. A bit too reticent, some might say, but so very pleasing, nonetheless. A really nice girl. Oh yes, her gaze seemed empty at times and her words sometimes rang, well, not false really, but perhaps a bit flat. Okay, I sometimes had the feeling she was just going through the motions of life, but they were such nice motions. Everybody liked her. She had an uncanny ability to keep almost everybody happy almost all the time, though she didn't truly seem to be very happy herself. But I could be wrong; she was always smiling. I don't know that I ever heard her laugh---and no one ever accused her of being wildly in love with life---but she had such a nice smile. She was a very caring person, though in a passive sort of way. She was not the type to turn the world upside down. Still, she was a very nice girl. What I mean to say, as you might have guessed, is that I was a very nice girl. A nice girl. There's nothing wrong with being a nice girl, especially when you consider the alternatives: A naughty girl? A mean girl? A bad girl? Who wants to be like that? I didn't. I really didn't. What I wanted was to be a godly girl. From the time I became a Christian at age seven, I wanted to please God, and I took that desire very seriously. I grew up in the 1950s and '60s in a small Michigan town, where I attended a church that was a fine church in many ways. But the preaching during my most impressionable years was pretty much hellfire and brimstone. I heard a lot about sin and punishment, guilt and shame.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (November 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310272319
• ISBN-13: 978-0310272311
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blown away!, March 1, 2006

By 

zanne (north of san francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nice Girls Don't Change the World (Hardcover)

i have to be honest, i had preconceptions about both this book and its author. i was wrong, wrong, WRONG. this book addresses a problem almost no one talks about in the church. it's not about feminism, or about the conflict between stay-at-home-moms and those who work outside the home. it's about being who God wants you to be. being a "nice girl" is about being who everyone else wants you to be, no matter what direction that takes. women in the church have for too long misunderstood what it means to be a Godly woman, no matter how they label it, and this book manages, in less than 100 pages, to address the issue, speaking to the heart, and provide a path to transformation in a simple, but not simplistic, way. it's such an amazing message that it's the foundation for a women's group a friend of mine and i are teaching. don't discount this book--it can start you on a life of freedom in Christ that you never imagined possible!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile story but way too short, March 26, 2006

By 

Helen Hancox "Auntie Helen" (Essex, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nice Girls Don't Change the World (Hardcover)

This has got to be one of the shortest books I have read in ages - and at £8.99 in the UK ($14.99 in the US) I can hardly consider it good value.

Lynne Hybels, wife of Bill Hybels of Willow Creek, tells us about her life as a pastor's wife and how she conformed to all the expectations of her role as mother, woman, pastor's wife, Christian - but missed out on the joy and true power that God can provide. An experience of depression and counselling helped her to understand her true role - not just as a support to those around her, but as someone God can use directly.

The book is hardback with arty photos to illustrate some of her points; the lines are widely spaced and it's a slim volume anyway, but I was astounded to discover I had read the whole book in just sixteen minutes. It was a good read, well-written, but I can't consider it value for money.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sincere but nothing unique, May 29, 2009

By 

a reader (Champaign, IL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nice Girls Don't Change the World (Hardcover)

This was a very short book. It took me less than half an hour to read it. My favorite thing about this book is the title. I agree with the message of this book but it isn't anything I haven't heard before. I've read a number of books related to women and spirituality, and Lynne Hybels' story is pretty typical. She seemed to convey a sincere awakening but it wasn't anything unusual. If you've never read anything related to women's spirituality and you don't like reading long books, this might be for you. But otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.