Women's Devotional Bible (ESV) from Crossway

I saw this Bible several times in the store, but never opened it because I'm not a big fan of the devotional Bibles. It's good for some people, but I tend to like Bibles without a lot of clutter, lots of note-taking room, and not many study notes. I like digging and finding the background myself.

With that said, I received this Bible in the mail and thrilled for several reasons. One of the reasons is because I knew that several godly women, whom I enjoy reading their books, had written devotions in here. I also was excited because it looked pretty and was well-laid out. It was very aesthetically pleasing for someone who is studying God's Word. There wasn't a lot of "clutter" on the page. The down-side is that there isn't a lot of white space to take notes, but I have my other Bibles that I use that for.

This is the perfect size to carry places. It's the typical size of the Bible, but is crammed full of helpful things. I love the dictionary in the back that explains Bible terms in a simple way. I really liked the devotional that are tailored to women and really encourage women straight from the text. It's not as if the devotional takes a Scripture verse then turns it into a lesson to fix yourself. The devotional focus on God, and through that, the woman is challenged and encouraged. I greatly appreciated that difference in this Bible vs. other devotional Bibles I've seen. It keeps the focus on God, not on me.

After using it for several months, one thing I think would be extremely helpful is a concordance or some sort of system to find other scriptures related to the individual verses. There are some, but not many. There's not really a concordance, and I find there are times when that is actually helpful. I'm sure that would greatly increase the number of pages in the Bible, but that was one thing I found lacking.

Other than that, I have used this Bible non-stop. I like the layout, the neutral colors, and it is so easy to find what you need. There is so much packed into this Bible that has greatly set it apart from other devotional Bibles. I plan to use this Bible for many years to come. Once again, Crossway has put out another helpful resource that is biblically sound and God-centered (as a Bible should be).

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I received this Bible free from Crossway Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion of this Bible.