Friday, March 8, 2013

A Godly View of Women

Some today are celebrating "International Women's Day." I am guessing the idea is that we need a special day set aside to show respect and appreciation for women. 

In theory, this sounds like a noble and worthwhile cause. Sadly, however, our society is so far removed from God's view of women and His plan for their lives that this day does nothing to accomplish its lofty goal of improving women's lives aside from the Word of God. 

It seems that there is a notion out there amongst unbelievers that God has a poor view of women, or that if we were to follow His law, women would end up with the "short end of the stick", at the caprice of evil men who would take advantage of them. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

This blog post is not long enough to disprove that false idea. But I did want to share a small interesting point I came across as I was reading the Proverb of the day with the kids earlier this week.

Proverbs 7:

4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.


If wisdom and understanding could be embodied, how would we treat them? Would we not use respect, honor, courtesy? Would we not seek after them, and work hard to earn their favor? Would we not look up to such a person, and hold them in high regard?

When God draws this parallel in verse 4 above, we are told to treat wisdom like a sister, and understanding like a female relative (kinswoman). This means the same is true the other way around: treat your sister and other females in your family the same way you would treat wisdom and understanding if they were embodied in a human. With courtesy, great respect, humility, honor, kindness, and so forth.

Proverbs 8

1 Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?

2 She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.

3 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.

[...]

14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.

15 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.

16 By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.

17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

18 Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.

19 My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.

20 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:

21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

[...]

36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.


Does this view of godly women void the part of God's law that says wives are supposed to obey and reverence their husbands? Of course not! Rather, it balances the relationship: the husband lays down his life for his wife, realizing that she is the greatest treasure God has bestowed upon him, and given him responsibility over safekeeping. The wife, in turn, defers to the husband as the loving, self-sacrificing authority over her and her life, second only to God. 


I Peter 3

1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:

6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.


Are we as Christians supposed to obey and respect God? Certainly! Does that mean that God will be ruling over us to our own detriment, using us for His selfish purposes, and treat us unkindly and hurtfully? Of course not! Marriage is a picture of that relationship. 


A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. - Proverbs 4:7 

A crown is the ultimate symbol of a king's power. If you want to be married to a king, you have the power to do so. You need only strive to become a beautiful crown, adorned with a meek and quiet spirit yourself. 

Ladies, if you want to live a truly liberated life, one where you feel loved and appreciated for being a woman, follow God and his Word. The more you follow it yourself, the more your husband and other men in your life will treat you with utmost respect and honor. 


14 comments:

  1. Great post! Sadly those "liberated women" don't know what they are missing!

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  2. Women who follow God's Word really are the liberated ones indeed. I needed to read this tonight . Thank you.

    Blessings,
    Brittany

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  3. I cannot agree with this. My husband and I live as Atheists, and were married in a civil ceremony, however our love, respect, trust and value for one another seems as fulfilling and committed as the godly relationships you describe. I cannot imagine a way where he could respect me more as a woman, his wife or the mother of his children. He loves and protects our children and myself, and provides for us financially, teaches us all new things, guides our emotional and spiritual growth, and is amazingly compassionate, yet practical when times are tough, and wants nothing but the best for our family.

    The only difference I can see between our marriage and one where the woman is "Godly" is that my husband and I don't need a book to tell us how to behave respectfully, lovingly and compassionately to one another. We are intelligent, rational thinkers and able to make our own decisions about right and wrong both in our marriage and our lives, and the idea that without the Bible, people cannot be good, moral or just generally nice and have successful marriages is, quite frankly insulting. I realised it would be wrong to take something that wasn't mine or kill a person long before I knew the Bible even existed. Likewise, I realised if I valued my man and wanted him to stay by me I should treat him respectfully, kindly and lovingly without ever knowing a single bible passage relating to marriage. For a lot of people it can be an important guide to right and wrong, but there are plenty of people out there who are able to choose correctly on their own too.

    I'm not disputing the nature of your marriages, I'm glad to see women who are loved and respected, but the idea that people who live a different life to you are somehow missing out is a terribly narrow minded view of the world. I could just as easily say you don't know what you're missing out on by not living as a liberated woman - but that would be very ignorant, as you clearly have something that is keeping you with your current relationship dynamics and obviously loving every second, and to dismiss that entirely because I think my way of marriage is better would be just plain rude to you.

    Everyone is different and the way that they will find their contentment and place in the world will differ, there is no one true singular path to happiness.

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  4. "heirs together of the grace of life" -- I love those words. Thanks for this post.

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  5. People who say they know right and wrong without a Bible don't understand where that came from. You were taught that and somewhere down the line your great great grandparents lived in a society where the Bible and it's morals were taught. Morals came from the Bible, without it this world would be 100 times worse. The Bible is not a book it's God's word. He made everything including you. Weather you believe it or not it doesn't matter, it is still truth. Sorry but you didn't just magically believe that stuff was wrong. Those were set by God before the beginning of time. The laws of this nation were based on the Bible when this nation was started. Not all of the people but most of them were Christians and they had Bible clubs. 90% of what used to be taught in public school was Bible! Until around the 60's and 70's they took it out and teen pregnancy rate went way up along with drugs and school shooting ect. They have continued to raise still. Once the Bible stopped being taught kids stopped having the morals, it was also sad that the parents weren't teaching them at home. Sorry you just can't take the Bible and God away and say you are living good and you know that on your own. Just the fact that you reject God is wrong and sinful and I pray you accept him and trust in him before you die and live forever burning in fire wishing you could go back and believe. You don't know what your missing living a joyful life with the Lord! He doesn't force himself on anyone one. He doesn't send anyone to hell you send yourself by rejecting him. He doesn't want robot but people who believe on Him out of their own free will. Accept him now as your personal savior before it's too late for your and your family. Hey if I'm wrong then I guess I will die and nothing will happen, if you are wrong you will burn in hell forever. I'm not the one who has something to loose here, you do.

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    1. It's likely that at least one of my parents was raised in a biblical household and received schooling, however their impart of morals on my life was little to none, they have never once said it was wrong to lie, steal, cheat, kill, they were neglectful, abusive and disinterested. I was about 5 when I saw the Rwandan genocide on the news (what was I doing up late enough to see something so horrific? Refer to my comment about my parents not being interested in raising good children.) I saw that horrible news and said to myself that I would never do that to another person - I didn't even know the Bible existed then, and realised it was awful to kill another - there was no parental influence, no religious teaching, I had not started school, and I could simply see that it was wrong. I did not 'magically' believe it, I used my heart and mind to see the pain, suffering and injustice and decided I would not perform such an act.

      As to Pascal's Wager - I would rather live my life of my own free will and admit that I was wrong than to spend my entire life living 'just in case' for no reason.

      I reject God, because when as a child I sought him out and lived to the little I had managed to learn from my friends at school about being godly, he rejected me. I prayed daily for years to be saved from the violent abuse I was raised in, I was meek, obedient and loyal to my parents no matter how awful they were, and yet the abuse never let up. I could not live any more religiously as I had no access to the information, yet this all loving, all seeing God, did not recognise the best efforts of a terrified and bruised child and save me? Was I being punished for not being godly enough? How is that fair when I was actively discouraged from seeking the information to help me become more so? I prayed daily for police, my school, another parent to become involved, and always my parents sweet-talked it away. It was not until I was a legal adult and able to access my own money and transport that I could escape, and when I realised it was my own actions and not God that saved me, I realised it is not my prayers but my actions. Why should I believe in something, that when I needed it most, and doing the best I could with what I had, were my cries for help ignored?

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    2. Just how it always is most people that say they don't believe in God are really mad at him and something horrible happened to them and they blame God. God gives people free will and we might not understand why he lets bad things happen but it is not him being mean. When you had your chance to escape why was that not God that allowed that to happen? Just because it wasn't on the timeline you wanted? I know what it's like to suffer and think God is ignoring you, but He is not and it may have taken a long time but He came through for me too. I wouldn't be the same person or be able to help people like I do if that stuff didn't happen to me. If you read the Bible God didn't even spare his own son from harm. Jesus is God's son and he lived poor when he was here and was beaten worse than you could ever imagine, the Bible says he was not recognizable as a man. Then he was nailed to a cross and suffered and died. He did that for you and for me so we would not have to go to hell. We are born with a sin nature and could not save ourselfs that is why Jesus came, He didn't have to. He could have stayed in heaven and let everyone go to hell or destroy everyone. But he loves us and had compassion on us and came to suffer and die for us. I can't think of a greater love that that. You may not have heard of a Bible but God created us with a conciseness that is why you know that stuff is wrong. That is why we feel bad when we hurt someone ect. That is natural in us and God created that because he created us and everything else. Some kids in 3rd world countries are raised in places where they teach killing from when they are very young and they don't know that is wrong, they are so brainwashed. We don't live around that so we think of course that is horrible when we see it. I really hope you accept him. I don't believe in God "just in case" I know He is real and everything in the Bible is true. But I was just saying in your case, living in hell for ever is more horrible than anyone here can imagine. I am living how I want. I don't want to live any other way. I was not raise Christian, I choose that life and have never been happier or more content. God would help you too if you didn't reject him. Could that be why you read blogs like Zsuszanna's? You are curious and somewhere deep down you believe you are just upset with God. You will probably deny it but that is what people that are mad at God do and claim their is no God just because He didn't do exactly what they wanted when they wanted it. We don't deserve anything from God, what ever he gives us is way more over what he has to do. But he blesses us because he loves us.

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    3. I read this blog because the home schooling, healthy eating and home management areas are appealing to me, however other religious aspects do not.

      Why should I trust and find good in a figure who subjected his own child to abuse much worse than my own? I know how bad I had it, and would not wish half of it on anyone, much less that of crucifixion. To pray to and trust a person who submitted their own child to worse than I had seems foolish and dangerous. My own beatings and abuse came out of "love" too.

      "It was not on my timeline" - it was not a case of being a petty whining child wanting a pony NOW. For 14 YEARS I prayed, begged, did everything I could to get God to hear me. I had my teeth knocked loose, my nose beaten to bleeding, I couldn't hear out of my ear for over a week, I was kicked, punched, beaten with sticks, belts, a fence paling, I had to wear long pants in summer to hide the bruising, I missed two weeks of school to let the black eye go down, I could not participate in sport class because I hurt too badly, I missed swimming lessons, because even the most modest swimsuit would have shown bruises, I bled for 2 days from my private regions because my father kicked me with steel capped boots there, my little finger will never set straight and my shoulder is permanently damaged from dislocation - if that was God's will, then I want nothing to do with him.

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  6. Iris, my heart goes out to you, and this Blog Keeper will probably not respond, because she is a similar slave/victim. God is Fiction/Power/Abuse. Atheism is truth/freedom.

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  7. Jesus choose to lay down his life for us, and willing went through all he did because he loved you. God did not make him. Sorry your ideas are so twisted and I'm sorry you were abused but it is not Gods fault and you will still go to Hell if you don't trust in him. I hope you realize how much he loves you and can help you. He never promised bad stuff would not happen to us but he does love us and will give you a home in paradise if you accept him, He will always be waiting and hoping.

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  8. I remember watching my mother bury 3 children and go through ovarian cancer and be a single mother even with a husband present and our father absent...
    I remember when my step father would lay me down and molest me, and how terrible I felt and alone and it went on for years and then my uncle took my virginity.. And when I tried to warn my aunt before hand she brought him back and he was able to take advantage...
    I remember cutting not just my wrist but mutilating my face and every other week trying to commit suicide. then at 13 I looked in a mirrror and I was filled with hate and anger and I was miserable and life had taken so much and I went into the kitchen and began to grab bottles of pills and I went into my bathroom turned on the water and began stuffing myself with pills and water and pills and water and pills and water.. then I felt myself getting weaker and I layed on the ground and as the medicine began to kick into my system I lost conscientiousness and when I woke the second day my mother began to weep because the day I was brought in another young girl had next to me had passed from taking one bottle ... The doctors counted me out telling my mom she wont make it she took 5 bottle of anti_depressant pills, but my mothers faith said I would and she began to pray and the doctors tried for hours to bring this girl back and couldnt.... The DOCTORS COULDNT BRING THIS GIRL BACK FROM TAKIG ONE BOTTLE OF PILLS BUT GOD BROUGHT ME BACK FROM TAKING FIVE... I have never seen God but just as I have faith when I sit in a chair it will be sturdy I have faith that God can bring me through.... I was counted out and abused much ore then even in this post will tell or I will tell in this post... Life happens but God answers if you allow... God gave satan rule over this earth and he gave you free will two things that could hinder you from your blessing so get mad with yourself or satan and change it funny how when people dont come through or mistreat you we charge it to the game but want to put the blame on God my my my I could curse God for every situation bad that happened to me but why.. your parents choices are to blame not God and even they too are human and have their own midnights life isnt easy nor perfect ... I refuse to even bash my molestors because I wont praise the situation I was in I thank my provider GOD for bringing me out and me being blessed and favored... I know that all the hell I experienced as a child it was all for the better God didnt cause it but he healed the pain and grew me from it what the devil ment for evil GODS NAME SHALL BE GLORIFIED...... We have power and authority only because Jesus dying for our sins the greatest sacrifice it should be seen as beautiful because alot of people say they will die for you but will they... I KNOW PAIN I KNOW STRIFE AND DEFINITELY KNOW GOD AND WHERE HE HAS BROUGHT ME THROUGH YES I AM HIS VESSEL OR IF YOU PREFER SLAVE FINE HE USES HIS VESSEL MARVELOUSLY I RATHER WALK WITH A MAN WHOM HAS GIVEN ME LIFE AGAIN AND MORE ABUNDANTLY THAT I HAVE NEVER SEEN THAN TO WALK BLINDLY IN THIS WORLD THINKING MY ACTIONS OR WHAT I DID CHANGES MY OUTCOME OR THE PEOPLE AROUND ME I SEE THAT HURT ME ...... SO FROM A PERSON WHO DIDNT SEE GOD AND NOW I DO I CAN TELL YOU THE DIFFERENCE....

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  9. Just as you were in school and they taught you history about people you never met or seen and you believed them why not believe God... serving GOD has no end its constant and it isnt easy the world didnt accept Jesus surely they wont accept his children.. you believe their should be no book fine why did you come here today they dont have atheist sites.... you may be angry with God but your still intrigued he did nothing to you charge it to people having midnights and living in there truth at the moment not them nor there heart because people dont grow up saying I want to be a bad parent, or I want to get addicted to drugs, or I want to molest children... life has happened to them just as it has happened to you be better than them if you fell they have failed you dont blame God... you say your actions huh.. well when your sick lets see if you can heal yourself ... you believe in something period and if you have never read what you call a "book" or experienced his love how do you know I have experienced your pain and even your belief there was no God so I can compare what about you? God isnt forceful when you enlist in the army you choose to and it comes with the understanding that their is a greater battle ahead.. God is bigger than your problems and issues and has a greater plan for your life and can take you out your notions and insecurities and pain.. If its dark its because God is trying to get you to see through him and not with your eyes... This is the day the LORD has made I will rejoice and be glad in it... Sacrifice is the greatest symbol of love... At anytime jesus could have said father take my spirit now but he didnt he was willing to go through that so that you can say today im sorry for what I did and said He said WHOSOEVER (not saints) shall believe in the son shall not perish but have everlasting life God is the author and in authority when you decide that and believe that then and only then are you truly in love with God.... when you finally say I dont care about what the world thinks because I believe in you and have never seen you, when you say I dont care what you take from me Lord or how you use me Lord I just want to be in your presence thats when you have given your all I gave the world my all and I was left emjpty keeping secrets for people and being abused and God took the lowliest of thing ME and made me a conqueror and a soldier for him all those things that the devil thought would stop me from getting to my destiny didnt they helped build me they gave me a story to tell to save another lost soul to bring them to understanding not belittle or hurt those whom had harmed me but to pray for them because God reigns on the just as well as the unjust..

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  10. doing everything right or wrong cant stop Gods blessing but you must first truly accept him and accept what happened in your life cant change but it can motivate another change in others So yes I thank God that I went through it and grew through it and didnt allow it to break me I may bend but never am I BROKEN.. God is my redeemer the Lord of Lords and King of Kings you cant tell me he doesnt exist its insulting to me I am not religious I am in a relationship with God he is my Father I cry to him joke with him he rest my mind and gives me ease and peace that surpasses all understanding.. you think you been through something that "book" pick it up and read JOB and if you really want to feel the power of God open your mouth and say God Im weak but I believe you gave your only begotten son to die and raise on the third day so that I may live life more abundantly and everlastingly Lord my mind was tainted body was bruised but you gave me breath to breathe you said you are my shepherd I shall not want you said Lord all who are heavy laiden come to you and you will give me rest.. you said if you be for me than who could be against me father cleanse me of all my imperfection iniquities addiction affliction unresolved hurt and pain Lord teach my heart to be forgiving as you have forgiven me cloth me with you righteousness and love dont leave my side I need you God... and as you say it believe it mean it as if you were talking to your natural father.. Let him protect you he never left you even then you gave up to quickly it takes nine months to concieve a child 12 months before they change another age and 21 years before they are fully grown their is a process to everything.... God loves you nomatter if you want to hear it or not and he will be with you all the days of your life...... princessprettyscott@hotmail.com is my email this is if you want to further the knowledge of God because his children are ment to be used as bridges for the lost to cross over to him and if I can be a bridge fine if not I have planted my seed.. Gods word shall not return void

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Your KINDLY WORDED, constructive comments are welcome, whether or not they express a differing opinion. All others will be deleted without second thought.