Sarah Jakes Roberts - Woman Evolve: Break Up with Your Fears and Revolutionize Your Life

2021 Sarah Jakes Roberts

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Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.

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Epub Edition February 2021 9780785235569

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Roberts, Sarah Jakes, 1988 author.

Title: Woman evolve / Sarah Jakes Roberts.

Description: Nashville, Tennessee : W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: Reimagining the story of Eve, Sarah Jakes Roberts draws lessons from Scripture and from her own life that show women how to use the mistakes of their past to overcome the challenges of today. Woman Evolve teaches women that they can use failures and mistakes to break through to their future. Like Eve, they do not need to live defined by the past. Pastor Sarah says, Bruised heels can still crush serpents heads. Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020045489 (print) | LCCN 2020045490 (ebook) | ISBN 9780785235545 (hc) | ISBN 9780785235569 (ebook) | ISBN 9780785235583 (IE)

Subjects: LCSH: Eve (Biblical figure) | WomenReligious aspectsChristianity. | Christian womenReligious life.

Classification: LCC BS580.E85 R63 2021 (print) | LCC BS580.E85 (ebook) | DDC 222/.11092dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020045489

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020045490

Printed in the United States of America

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To every woman determined to abandon what was and bold enough to discover what could still become... this one is for us.

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

GENESIS 1:28

Three years ago I fell deeply in love with Eve. Yes, the Garden of Eden Eve, the woman who basically ruined Gods plan for humanity over a piece of fruit.

I know what youre thinking: Fall in love with Eve? How is that even possible? The woman most popularly known for being the gateway of sin, debauchery, cramps, bloating, labor pain, dysfunctional relationships, insecurities, depression, disease, stretch marks, acne... ? Yes. Thats the one.

For years I rolled my eyes whenever Eves name came up. I saw her as the woman who had one job and failed so miserably that it changed my life, and yours, thousands upon thousands of years later. Before it could even begin. A fantasy of traipsing around a tropical garden with a flat tummy, picking organic fruit from treesnever worrying about the cost of living, global warming, or obsessing over social mediacomes to a screeching halt over a little ol piece of fruit. Picked from a forbidden tree.

Ive always had big plans to get to heaven and give Eve a full neck-twisting, eye-rolling, hand-clapping dissertation on the effects her choice has had on the rest of us. But all of that changed at a womens conference. I noticed that all the volunteers (and most of the registrants) wore matching shirts. This isnt uncommon at a womens event; however, these shirts were different. They displayed the names of women in the Bible who are celebrated for their commitment and faith: Sarah. Ruth. Esther. Mary. #squadgoals.

Since we are just getting to know each other, now may be a good time to tell you something you should probably know about me. From time to time, theres this petty part of my brain that needs to be reminded that I know Jesus. Is that anybody elses testimony?

That day at the conference, that petty part of my brain tapped me on my proverbial shoulder and whispered, Chiiillle, look! You aint the only one who doesnt want Eve on her squad. I immediately smiled at the thought.

As I walked from the backstage holding room into the crowded auditorium, I looked over the audience. The Sarah. Ruth. Esther. Mary. #squadgoals shirt was literally everywhere I turned. The band had taken their places on the stage. The singers had grabbed their microphones. The music was blaring, and everyone in the room was lifting their voices in worship. But I was stuck.

I couldnt shake the feeling that something was wrong. I should have been opening my heart and lifting my hands to sing along with all the others. After all, in just a few short moments I was scheduled to take the platform and share a message meant to confront, transform, and empower the women in the room to pursue the vision God had when He created them. Yet all I could think about was Eve.

Logically I knew why her name was not on the shirts. Seriously. Who in their right mind wants Eve on their squad? She was so easily tempted and manipulated to abandon what she knew was right and engage with what would leave her (and the rest of us) in the world struggling.

If an actual lightbulb appeared over our heads each time we had an epiphany, in that moment a high-megawatt beam wouldve been shining brilliantly over mine!

Compassion for Eve hit me like a ton of bricks. This time I wasnt viewing her from my high horse but from a position of empathy that can only come from knowing what its like to be in someone elses shoes. There I was, in the middle of a womens conference, where the virtues of women who showed ridiculous faith and righteousness were being proclaimed, but all I could think about was Evemy heart longing to go back to the garden to tell her that she still had value, promise, and worth.

Value. Promise. Worth. Arent those the words we all need to hear? Especially when we find ourselves in our own inevitable Eve moments? Havent we all had a moment when we knew better but didnt do better?

Lets be honest. Our inclination to choose a path that pushes us further away from our moral, ethical, spiritual, financial, physical, relational, or emotional goals is not a foreign concept. Yet Eve has been vilified for making a similar choice. One we all can relate to making at some point, in some way.