Monday, May 20, 2013

Calling All Women, Part 1

Calling all Women, Part 1

Proverbs 31:10-12 (NLT) A Wife of Noble Character: Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

The last two weeks, I’ve discussed traits of a Godly man from a book my husband and I are reading titled, “what’s the difference? Manhood and Womanhood Defined According to the Bible” by John Piper. We are enjoying this book so far; it’s stretching us and giving us a lot to consider. I continue to be amazed about the difference that manhood and womanhood is defined and intended by God (our Creator) and how the world seeks to redefine or mold us.

I will reiterate that the gender differences Piper describes from the Bible are not based on tasks, skill level or intelligence – it’s based on desires and intent or motives…it seems so far anyway, we haven’t finished it yet.

John Piper has a working definition of manhood and womanhood –these next two weeks I’ll share his biblical insights on womanhood.

“At the heart of mature femininity is a freeing disposition to affirm, receive and nurture strength and leadership from worthy men in ways appropriate to a woman’s differing relationships.” Piper’s disclaimer: “…the definitions are not exhaustive. There is more to masculinity and femininity, but there is not less.”

1.    “Mature femininity refers not to what sin has made of womanhood or what popular opinion makes of it, but what God willed for it to be at its best. …False or immature stereotypes are sometimes identified as the essence of femininity.”

2.    The following biblical examples draw us to strong, enduring Godly women and the traits God blesses within each of His daughters He has created: Ruth, Naomi, Sarah, Mary (Jesus’ mother and Magdalene) – I strongly recommend doing character studies of each woman. Just like reading biographies of great men and women, doing scripture character studies can encourage us to be more than we thought we could be.

3.    Piper focuses on “mature femininity as a disposition rather than a set of behaviors or roles because mature femininity will express itself in so many different ways depending on the situation….and the specific acts that grow out of the disposition of womanhood vary considerably from relationship to relationship, not to mention from culture to culture.”

4.    He does refer to the “s” word…you knew it was coming…SUBMISSION. It is “best if we define submission not in terms of specific behaviors, but as a disposition to yield to the husband’s authority and an inclination to follow his leadership. This [definition] is important because no submission of one human being to another is absolute. The husband does not replace Christ as the woman’s supreme authority. She must never follow her husband’s leadership into sin. She will not steal with him or get drunk with him or savor pornography with him or develop deceptive schemes with him. But even where a Christian wife may have to stand with Christ against the sinful will of her husband, she can still have a spirit of submission - a disposition to yield. She can show by her attitude and behavior that she does not like resisting his will and that she longs for him to forsake sin and lead in righteousness so that her disposition to honor him as head can again produce harmony.”

Like I said, many thoughts to consider and reexamine. I have been a long time “strong and intelligently bold woman” and I am glad to see that although Christ refine’s my strength and intelligence…He will not take them away or undermine those gifts in me. Many friends have thought the bible teaches that women must be weak both in mind and strength to follow Christ – I do hope we can see in this discussion that those lies are not in the bible or what God intends for His daughters. How He Is Always With Us

To be continued…

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