Here's the second half for you today:
QUINTESSENTIALLY FEMININE, Part 2
“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”
(1 Peter 3:4).
"The ultimate quintessence of motherhood is the
revelation of God’s maternal heart to the world."
Nursing a baby is very much part of our femaleness. There are some mothers who deny themselves the privilege and joy of nursing their own baby, and yet this is primal and quintessential to being female. 1 The Bible tells us that “Even jackals offer the breast, they nurse their young; but the daughter of my people has become cruel like ostriches in the wilderness” (Lamentations 4:3).2
Our little daughters naturally behave femininely. They haven’t yet been conditioned by society. They love to mother. That’s all they want to be when they grow up until society re-programs their brains. They love babies. They love to dress like princesses, which is another area of our femininity we have lost.
As we look around today we see most women in the uniform of the day—jeans and top. I don’t say you should not wear the “uniform,” but does it really convey who we are? Nor do I say you can’t wear pants. The men in biblical days didn’t wear pants but wore long flowing robes. The important thing is to make whatever you wear look feminine.
When my little granddaughters go to my dress-up box, what do they want to wear? Each one of them wants to be a princess. They look for the princess dresses, and if there are not enough to go around, they create them out of sheets and old curtains! I have never noticed that they want to dress up in a business suit!
One of my Above Rubies helpers shared with me that she and her sister sewed civil war time dresses with hooped skirts for a historical fair they were attending. They had to run some errands, and rather than changing into street clothes, decided to wear their dresses. They were amazed that in every store, both workers and shoppers, stopped to exclaim, “Oh you look so beautiful!” or “What beautiful dresses!”
I was thinking about this when traveling some time back. Delayed in a long line at an airport, I decided to look around for beautiful women. Every woman wore the “uniform,” but I spotted one lady who stood out from everyone else. She was dressed in a flowing apricot-colored sari with scarves flowing around her. She looked gloriously feminine and I feasted my eyes upon her as I waited. How sad that we have degenerated so far from our intrinsic femininity that we can only wear a dress that makes us feel like a princess or a queen if we “dress up in a costume!”
I believe a woman also reveals her femininity in her home. This is the domain God planned for women—to make her home a restful place where God’s presence dwells, to raise and nurture her children, to create a delightful atmosphere her children will remember into the next generation, and to be a successful home-maker and gardener. Proverbs 24:15 calls the home a “resting place.” Hosea 11:11 (KNOX) says, “In their own home, says the Lord, I will give them rest.” When we lose the anointing of rest upon our lives, we need to get back into the home.
In the home a woman can bask in the provision and leadership of her husband. She loses her femininity, her grace, and her peace when she rules her husband. A truly feminine woman trusts in her husband’s provision and authority. This does not mean she is a doormat. God has given women a sphere of leadership, not to rule over her husband, but to govern the affairs of her home (1 Timothy 5:14). It is her prerogative to efficiently administrate her home and garden. This is not an insignificant task. It is a full-time career, especially as God blesses the couple with more children.
It is not just loving our children,
but loving and embracing the role of motherhood
that releases us into the joy and glory of our divine career.
Gentleness and meekness are also the inner essence of being female. 1 Peter 3:3-4 (Williams) says, “Your adornments . . . must be of an internal nature, the character concealed in the heart, in the imperishable quality of a quiet and gentle spirit, which is of great value in the sight of God.” These qualities in a female are very precious to the heart of God, and to husbands. In fact, they are a woman’s charm. They are called an “unfading charm” in the Amplified Version.
Is it weak to have a gentle and quiet spirit? No. It is a woman of strength who keeps a gentle spirit in the face of harshness and rebuke. It is a strong woman who keeps an even temper when she feels overwhelmed and angry. Have you tried being meek for a week?
The anointing of gentleness on a mother is beautiful to behold. Motherhood is equated with gentleness. And yet it is more. Just as Jesus was revealed as both a Lamb and a Lion, so too, God has put within the woman a gentle anointing, but also a “lion-like” spirit which rises up to protect her children, or to resist the enemy that comes to attack her marriage or home (Revelation 5:2-6).
This “quiet and gentle” spirit is also revealed in our speech. Soft and gentle words exemplify femininity. Sweet words are becoming to a woman. If I start to get on my “high horse” my husband says to me, “Nancy, you’ve got to be sweet to me.” Oh my! I don’t have a chance to get harsh! Sweet words endear us to our husband. Sweet words bless our children. Sweet words personify our femaleness. Shakespeare’s famous words are apt for us:
"Her voice was ever soft, gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman."
Solomon, speaking to his bride in Song of Songs 4:11 says: “Your lips, my bride, drip honey; honey and milk are under your tongue.” Could your husband testify that every time you open your mouth sweet words drip from your lips?
In Song of Songs chapter 7 (The Message), the Bridegroom is overcome as he admires every part of his bride. And then he exclaims that she is “quintessentially feminine.” He cannot think of greater praise.
We have come so far from God’s original intent for us, His female creation. Can we allow God to work in our lives to bring us back, little by little, to the original glory He planned for us? Let’s stop measuring our lives by the world around us but by God’s original design?
PRAYER:
“Dear Father, You have given so many amazing aspects to femininity. Help me to fully embrace each one of them. Help me to show to my family and to the world around me what it means to be female. Amen.”
AFFIRMATION:
I’m tired of the “blur” in society today. I will seek to be truly feminine.
NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org
Footnotes:
1. To read more about the blessings of embracing motherhood and femininity go to: http://tinyurl.com/FullFemale
2. See also Job 39:14-17 and Isaiah 49:15.
Oh touch the hem of His garment
God is a dwelling God and He delights to dwell in your life. The true essence of Christianity is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). We are more than a creature with a spirit; we are a spirit with a body waiting to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. If Christ lives in you, this fact changes everything you say and everything you do. Your life is no longer secular and meaningless. Everything you do is sacred because you are housing the presence of God.
"There is more in a mother's hands than a king's scepter"
Malachi 4:6: “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” Scripturally speaking, the heart is the center of affections and feelings. It is the storehouse of love, loyalty, valued relationships, and all that we hold dear.
John 6:66-69: “From that time many of HIS DISCIPLES WENT BACK, AND WALKED NO MORE WITH HIM. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”