For the Ladies: Christian

Looking at the Gospel and at Yourself as a Follower of Jesus

The foundation to understanding womanhood is to first understand oneself through the reality of the Gospel. For a woman to understand any of the roles that Scripture lays out for her, she must first understand herself as a follower of Jesus. Only from there will the rest of what Scripture calls her to make any sense.

In light of the Gospel, the woman understands that she, as a human being, was created in the image of God. She also understands that she is an imperfect representation of that image. She knows that her sin has resulted in a disconnect between her and God. She has entrusted herself to God as a follower of Jesus, knowing that Jesus was God’s plan to reconnect her to God. As a result of being in connection with God, she is able to be transformed and restored into who she was created to be. As she brings sinful, broken, or even hurting areas of herself to Jesus, He is able to restore these things to how God intended her to live. She becomes a new and whole person, more and more alive as who God designed her to be. (For a more detailed explanation of the Gospel, read the post, “Gospel 101.”)

When it is through this paradigm of the Gospel that the woman views all of her life, she understands certain things about herself and her priorities. She understands that she isn’t perfect, but that God is always transforming her into His design of who she was created to be. She also understands that the transformation happens as she continually lays out her soul to Jesus. She prioritizes her inner relationship with God, continually recognizing what is going on in her own soul and inviting God to speak truth and renew areas that need His life. This inner life in God is what the Scripture is talking about when it speaks of godly women having the “hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.” (1 Peter 3:4). The primary identity of the Christian woman is that of a follower of Jesus. As a follower of Jesus, her primary priority is fostering the hidden person of the heart, the inner relationship with God. It is through this inner life that the woman is able to have a solid spirit. From the verse above, the idea of a gentle and quiet is simply the idea that the woman’s spirit is at peace.

It is from this place of peace through developing her inner life with Jesus, that the woman is then able to follow Him. She entrusts herself to him. By entrusting herself to Him, she is allowing Him to lead her life and transform her character. Scripture speaks of the godly woman having a noble character, possessing strength and dignity, being self controlled and pure and kind, and also not being worried nor fearful (Proverbs 31:10, 25, Titus 2:5, 1 Peter 3:6). These qualities are developed from being in close connection to Jesus. It is through this inner life with God that the woman has an overflow of these qualities.

The woman who views herself in light of the Gospel, understands that her soul, her heart is the place where God intends to meet with her and engage her. She understands that her life is an overflow of what is going on inside of her. Because of this she is quick to identify and take to God all that goes on inside of her. Her outward actions flow from her inward reality. She also knows she will not always get it “right.” She will sin, she will experience brokenness, but she will continually see and admit to what is there (confess), turn away from destructive patterns and turn towards the truth in how she is to live (repent). Ultimately she will find freedom in the truth that through Jesus she can be transformed from brokenness and destructiveness to hope and life (believe). Because of this process (confess, repent, believe), she does not walk around in guilt and shame and obligation but in freedom and hope and life.

Because she understands herself in light of the Gospel, she walks in freedom becoming the woman she was created to be rather than striving to be the “perfect” woman who appears to have it all together. There is no such “perfect” woman. A woman who has a Gospel identity, recognizes that, releases striving, and lives from her spirit because her spirit is in relationship with Jesus and is at peace with God.

This is the foundation to true womanhood: cultivating an inner life with God and living from that reality.