Guest Post: The Value of Women

My wife shares her perspective.

The topic of submission and a woman’s role has definitely become a bit of an obsession for me (for obvious reasons). Another obsession for me recently has been figuring out who I am in Christ. This post is going to explore my most recent thoughts around these ideas.

Keep in mind that I’m not as gifted of a writer as Brendan but bear with me while I try to articulate what I’m learning and what’s been on my mind! :)

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We were watching this sermon by Voddie Baucham this past weekend (definitely recommend it, along with most of Voddie’s sermons) and in it he talks about how Christian marriages and child raising directly goes against the world and feminists. No wonder there are so many hate threads on Brendan’s work and my taco bowls.

Anyways… He was talking about how men and women have the same value but are different in design and he made the point that to submit is a military term of placing oneself under authority. In the military an officer ranks higher than a sergeant. Voddie says, you can have a sergeant who has been in the military for 10 years and an officer who has been in the military for 10 months. The sergeant is clearly more valuable with his multiple years of experience, but he must submit to the officer anyways, because the officer ranks higher despite less experience. If he doesn’t submit, the entire operation is in jeopardy. Although I thought this was a great point, I didn’t love it because I felt that it could definitely inflate the egos of women. 

Now today, I am watching a sermon called The Glory of Womanhood by Toby Sumpter. He gets into 1 Corinthians 11 when Paul says that man is the glory of God and woman is the glory of man. I had heard that this can be understood to mean that woman is the glory of glory — literally glory glorified — but hadn’t really gone much further. Toby goes back into genesis and gets into hebrew superlatives, the naming of Eve and the renaming of Adam. I am not going to pretend to be able to do it any justice, so just go watch it HERE. 

Now as I briefly mentioned before, I am not saying all of this to inflate egos, because as women, we are also sinners, desperately in need of a saviour. I am saying this because although it may seem obvious, I know I often forget, women have a very valuable and very important role in this world.

From the moment of conception we are given a uterus. We are given a literal home inside us. We are born into this world as homemakers. We are carers, nurturers and lovers. We can birth nations. We can either lead those in our care to Christ or we lead them straight to hell. 

In proverbs it is made abundantly clear that if we are not building our home, then we are tearing it down. We are never going to be perfect at being women and mothers, we are literally incapable, but this was a reminder to me as to how important it is that I lean on Christ in order to do this job to the best of my ability, because it is arguably the most important job of them all. 

Toby talks on how in 1 Peter 3, at least three temptations are mentioned. The temptation to use our words and beauty sinfully and to be tempted into fear. 

Are your words bitter, critical and discontent, dragging down those in your home or are you feeding your family words of wisdom, joy, blessing, gratitude and praise. 

“We love because God loved us first. There is a gaping difference between a female heart full of that kind of love, the kind of love that was unmerited, undeserved and that gives. There is a gaping difference between that and the female heart that is empty.” -Toby Sumpter

In a world that hates the family and hates children, we as women need to build up our families through Christ in us and through the fear of the Lord. We have a high calling on our shoulders. Maybe the highest of them all. Raise your children and love your family to the glory of God.

Future generations are depending on us to raise them in loving homes, that share wisdom that lead them to a saving faith in Christ and that lead them to a love for the Lord. We aren’t going to succeed with crappy attitudes. We are not going to succeed by being riddled with fear. We will succeed by repeatedly coming back to the cross and knowing that Christ died for our sins. We will succeed by knowing that God’s love for us is abundant and overflowing and that love can overflow onto those around us. We will succeed at playing out God’s will in our lives.

No matter what society says, do not forget… Womanhood, motherhood and homemaking are a valuable and glorious calling. 

“God has created you to be the glory of man, to be the glory of the glory, to light us up, to make this world shine with the glory of Christ; and the only way you can do that is when the glory of Christ is shining on you.” - Toby Sumpter

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Here are a couple books I have also read lately.

Risen Motherhood

You Who? (Not quite finished but am enjoying it so far)

Hope you got something from this,

Destany