Everywhere you turn, the world has a message for the women of today. Social media, fashion magazines, TV shows, billboards and movies use different words and images to convey the same message:
If you are truly a modern woman, if you are truly a successful woman, you must strive for physical perfection, professional success and independence.
However, if you are a mother who is investing time in caring for your kids, making them your life, then the world tries to make you believe you are settling for less. Children or family life hardly fit into the equation for success.
Despite what the world may tell women today, the Bible has the true message of a woman’s worth: God has elevated the position of womanhood and given every woman a place of honor and respect in the Christian home.
In Proverbs, God gives us a model of true womanhood for every woman, married or single.
The woman described in Proverbs 31 is a woman of inestimable value: “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her worth is far above rubies” (v. 10). In verses 30 to 31, Proverbs tells us that a woman’s value is not in her looks: “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.”
Throughout the Bible, we find the narratives of godly women who God used to write the course of history—and they were by no means weak. Deborah was a prophet, warrior and the fourth judge of Israel in the book of Judges. Sarah was the mother of the entire nation of Israel in Genesis. Rahab, once a prostitute, was a vital agent of Israel’s conquest over Jericho as detailed in the book of Joshua, and ultimately a part of the bloodline of Christ as we see later in the book of Matthew.
In essence, the godly and redeemed Christian woman—married or single, no matter what her past was like—is a precious treasure.
What makes you valuable as a woman? It is your godliness and virtue. When you are a Christ-centered, Spirit-filled woman committed to following Jesus Christ, you will be the godly woman God desires you to be.
In contrast to the world’s view that your value is based upon your outward beauty, independence and professional success, God says your value is based upon the ageless inner beauty of your Christlike character and how you serve Him.
No one is more charming, more beautiful, than a woman who glows with the glory and the presence of God.
That is true womanhood at its best. {eoa}
