No More Holding Back

God created men and women to be different, but that doesn’t limit what each can and should do to serve him.

In Mark 12:30 Jesus answers a question asked by the teachers of the day. They wanted to know which commandment was the greatest, the most important. He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (NIV).

What does that really mean in how we approach and assume our daily roles? What does loving the Lord with your all actually look like? What does that mean for us as women-and men-desiring to follow God and serve him? In a day when our church culture has limited the terms of Jesus’ command to the perceived strengths of each gender, a woman trying to love the Lord beyond her heart and soul, with her strength and mind, can be thought of as crossing some line or unspoken boundary. But that is not what Scripture says.

Kat Armstrong-Bible study teacher, ministry leader, pastor’s wife, and mom-offers her thoughts on this important subject in an effort to help women find their answers to the question, “What am I doing here?” Perhaps more clearly, “Why am I allowing limitations on my pursuit of Jesus’ calling?”-not just as single, career-driven women or as wives and moms but as Christ followers focused on living their lives to love and serve God as their first and highest calling.

No More Holding Back opens the doors to this important conversation with a personal challenge Kat faced while attending seminary. From there, she unpacks the four areas of how to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The goal is for the entire body of Christ, as his image bearers, to flourish and work toward the common good of our homes, communities, and the world around us.