Confessions of a Church: The Biblical Woman
The Psalm writer wrote: Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received. This is the word of God. It is eternally true and applicable for all of life. Proverbs 31:21-31 She is not afraid of the snow for her household, For all her household are clothed with scarlet. She makes coverings for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, And supplies belts to the tradesmen. Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also, and he praises her, saying: “Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all.” Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her the product of her hands, And let her works praise her in the gates.
Women who wish to have more than 1.6 children are increasingly referred to as incubators in today's environment. These mothers, should they also decide that in the home is where they ought to spend their days, working for family, raising their children, are called doormats, slaves.
The notion that women ought to marry, have children, raise said children, and be keepers at home, has been supplanted by a picture of womanhood and motherhood which are freakish caricatures of God's design for women. In America, praised are the mothers who murder their unborn children and spare them a life of potential poverty or abuse. Praised are the mothers who selflessly sacrifice their time with the 1.6 children they do allow to live, to pursue career, wealth, and accolades. As these mothers toil for their corporate task masters, their children suffer in the hands of people not equipped to raise and love them. This is compassion in 2021.
God's word today reminds us that it is the woman who fears the LORD that shall be praised.
Women, as you make war against the vain philosophies of this world by submitting to your husband, having children, keeping your home well, enduring the slander of bitter feminists, and having the scars in your bodies to show for it, remember this: if, as you toil, your faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, your labors are not in vain.
Living a life of biblical womanhood is a display of what it looks like for a woman to have the fear of the LORD. It is a show of strength and dignity.
It takes no courage to walk down the broad path carved out by feminists in 2021. You can murder your children or dump the one you let live off at public school, and you will be held up as a hero. It does take courage to live as God has called mothers to live, however. This isn't a courage that you attempt to muster up like some 2021 version of Rosey the Riveter. It is a courage that follows from a fear of the LORD. When your trust is in the Creator of the universe, Who has blessed you with the fruit of your womb, Who supplies all your needs, Who has sent a Savior to set you free from the chains of sin and death: things like fear of man, the echoes of doubt playing on loop in your mind, and the shrill sound of feminists and their rants, all fade away. When you recognize that the Creator has been mindful of you, that He has noticed you, and blessed you, your response is one of repentance and humble submission to His Word. What follows is a wonderful story of a beautifully adorned woman who gives her undivided attention to her household. It is a story of a woman blessed with skills and talents, and uses them industriously in her home to support the mission of her husband as he sits in the gate.
This version of womanhood and motherhood, is a true display of strength and dignity, because rather than being wrapped up in narcissistic self, letting everyone hear you roar, you are instead wrapped up in the righteousness of Christ and live your life in a manner which exalts Him. Your life in Christ as a woman and mother is marked by a gentle and quiet spirit, and when you speak, it is with words of wisdom and kindness. The contrast with the wayward women of today could not be more stark.
The woman who fears the LORD is not an idle woman. There is no wasted time. With children to feed, bath, and teach, a home to maintain, and a husband to help, wasting time on Facebook, twitter, or other mindless endeavors, isn't even an option. This woman has real children, real problems, and a real husband, and is committed to them, not some fake digital fairytale family with a fake profile, and fake smiles, telling fake stories to get more likes and thumbs ups.
The Proverb today reminds us that charm, or grace, and beauty are fleeting, vaporous, and passing away. Young ladies, if your approach to life is merely to be seen by others, and to receive the praise for the blessing of attractiveness God has granted you, and you are neglecting to nurture the other elements of biblical womanhood, there will most certainly come a day when your beauty will be gone. When that day arrives, what will people then praise you for? The woman who fears the LORD will be praised because God showed her favor. The one who sought the praise of men will have received their reward, and it is fleeting. It is true that Christian women are the most beautiful women, "amen?", yet it is the one who Fears the LORD who will be praised.
Young ladies, women, and mothers, what are you known for?
Surely you fall short of the picture painted of the virtuous woman, of what do you need to repent?
Men, are you leading in such a way that though your wife falls short, grace and mercy reigns in your home? As a result of this, your children rise up and bless their mother, in part, because you show appreciation and thankfulness for the imperfect sacrifices your wife makes as she seeks to obey the LORD.
If this is not a mark of your home, men, you need to repent.
If you are able, please kneel at this time as we call upon the Name of the LORD.
O LORD,
Forgive us for serving thee in sinful ways --
by glorying in our own strength,
by forcing ourselves to minister through
necessity,
by accepting the applause of others,
by trusting in assumed grace
and spiritual affection,
by a faith that rests upon our hold on Christ,
not on him alone,
by having another foundation to stand upon
beside thee;
for thus we make flesh our arm.
Help us to see
that it is faith stirred by grace that does the deed,
that faith brings a man nearer to thee,
raising him above mere man,
that thou dost act upon the soul
when thus elevated and lifted out of itself,
that faith centres in thee as God all-sufficient,
Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
as God efficient,
mediately, as in thy commands and promises,
immediately, in all the hidden power
that faith sees and knows to be in thee,
abundantly, with omnipotent effect,
in the revelation of thy will.
If we have not such faith we are nothing.
It is our duty to set thee above all others
in mind and eye;
But it is our sin which places ourselves above thee.
Lord, it is the special evil of sin
that every breach of thy law arises
from contempt of thy Person,
from despising thee and thy glory,
from preferring things before thee.
Help us to abhor ourselves in comparison of thee,
And keep us in a faith that works by love,
and serves by grace.
In Jesus's Name we pray, amen.
Prayer adapted from the Valley of Vision prayer titled 'Vain service'.
Listen now to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to his church:
Isaiah 25:6-8 The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.
To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!
(From the 05/09/2021 liturgy of Sovereign King Church written by Aaron Sabie.)
Image by วัฒนา ลอยมา from Pixabay
