True Woman 101: Sisterhood is Powerful

 

For our last week, we took a final look at the definition of womanhood, comparing a biblical perspective with that of the culture and also reviewing what God had in mind with his original divine design.

While the Bible places a high value on marriage and motherhood and sees it as a noble calling, our surrounding world often devalues marriage and motherhood. Culture upholds our own ideas of success and fulfillment, which usually involves a career, money, and independence. Neither marriage or motherhood is not looked upon as fulfilling, but instead we are encouraged to pursue our own wants and desires outside the home to fulfill us.

As we saw, motherhood is at the heart of womanhood. But having a "mothering" heart does not necessarily mean you need to bear children.Though we often think of motherhood as a physical calling, it is also a spiritual one. Married or single, we as women can demonstrate a mothering quality as we bring up and nurture children in the faith. Bearing and nurturing life is a God given task. As women, we have a tremendous responsibility to be fruitful-that is, to be spiritually fruitful, producing and nurturing sons and daughters in the faith. Adoption, fostering, mentoring, teaching-these are all ways that an otherwise "childless" woman can practice her mothering bent. A woman doesn't have to physically bear children to be a "joyful mother."

When we look at our divine design, we also see that God assigned woman the primary responsibility for creating and managing a home. God designed women to have a unique responsibility for creating and managing their home because he also gave them a bent for creating warm, inviting spaces that are conducive to welcoming and nurturing life. 

As we think about our new home, my husband and I have a markedly different approach in what needs to be done to make it a true home. Where he is concerned about practical things like new doors and windows, I am concerned about furniture, paint, and decor. My concern is for making it look and feel warm and homey, whereas his concern is in making it practically liveable. Before doing this study, I had never thought about it being a God given inclination.

As I finish this study, I think one of the best lessons I can take is regarding the importance of leaving a legacy of True Womanhood for the daughters of the next generation. Because the young and upcoming women of our world are going to be influenced by somebody, and I'd much rather that they be influenced by a legacy of True Womanhood than by that of the culture. The ideas that the culture promotes are counter to these beliefs and dishonoring to God, and following them has only left us even more empty and unfulfilled.

As we close, I hope you have gained some insight into the ideas that we have been studying and have maybe even seen some application for your own life. And of course, if you haven't done it, I would highly recommend this study for your upcoming fall Bible Study! 

Thanks for following along with us.

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