While planning out our current theme – Celebrating Creation – and looking forward in the calendar and seeing Women’s Day, my mind started playing around with ideas on how to celebrate one of God’s most intricate and beautiful creations. We live in interesting times where gender identity is under fire and the thought of celebrating women as God created us to be is rather… Well, daunting.
So, I reached out to a few women in my life who have had a hand in shaping my womanhood through friendship, mentorship and thought-provoking conversations, to find out how they view biblical womanhood.
The answers were all strikingly similar. And all of them could not find identity in womanhood without looking first at our Creator, our identity through Him, and then outwards towards our communities.
“Through Jesus I have found so much freedom to be fully woman in all the beauty of the complexity of that. Heart with head, being hands and feet showing God’s nurturing heart for His world, with a streak of justice mixed in there.”
Kay Lorentz 🌼
“As a woman I am working at becoming more like Jesus, studying His word and putting what I learn into practice. I don’t believe in preaching to people but believe that people should want to know Jesus by the way I act and treat others.”
Anita Tichauer 🌼
“Biblical womanhood can be represented in two different things: her identity and her role or purpose. From my perspective womanhood should never be distorted or manipulated to suit the desires of mankind, but rather biblical womanhood should be as God intended when He originally designed it. I believe biblical womanhood would represent a facet of who God is in the unique facets embedded into the DNA of every woman. If we think about the many beautiful facets of God’s character across the scriptures, we might start to see glimpses of Jesus through each individual woman we encounter. I love being a woman; kind, nurturing, gentle and loving yet also passionate, vivacious, bold and full of fire. God created women to be gloriously positioned at the rib of godly men, representing His beautiful bride and He as the groom.”
Kate Campbell 🌼
“To me biblical womanhood is understanding what a woman’s identity is in Christ, who He made women to be, what their significant role is and how He is using women to impact the world.”
Kristin Rockhill 🌼
“Biblical womanhood to me looks like making a deliberate choice to lay down your life, sacrificing all dreams, desires and aspirations that you wanted to attain for yourself for completely new desires, dreams and aspirations that make you one with your creator God. Because deep down you know this process, no matter how painful, will make you whole, complete, and beautiful.”
Yolanda Magida 🌼
“I would say it’s embracing the authenticity of being a woman, as described in the Bible, and living that out, righteously. Simply put, for me, it’s having a heart after God’s heart! ❤️”
Sheri-Anne Muller 🌼
“Biblical womanhood is a movement that describes how a woman should live in light of Jesus. That means being a submissive wife, diligent homemaker, a loving mother and a woman that cares about her community.”
Meagan Taylor 🌼
“For me it is knowing that my identity is in Christ, and that my life, future and peace is in God’s hands no matter what the circumstances are in my earthly life. It’s knowing I am unconditionally loved, desired and valued by the creator of all things. My value is in Him, not from people.”
Herlien van Rooyen 🌼
“Biblical womanhood is living my life according to God’s plans for me. What does this look like? A life wholly and fully surrendered to the Lord and to His plans for my life. Up to and including – dressing in a way that is pleasing to Him, teaching my children to live a Christ like way in how I am modelling life for them, making God my first port of call when troubles hit, constantly checking to see if the work of my hands glorifying Him.”
Thabile Molapisane 🌼
“In Genesis it says that it is not good for man to be alone, so God created a helper for Adam. When he saw Eve, he was incredibly happy. She was his help mate. A woman after God’s heart is one who encourages the lives of others, whose goal it is to pour out all that God has put in her to bless mankind. She is an enricher, she makes things better and beautiful – all for the glory of God. In Proverbs 31 it says – she brings him good all the days of her life. Single and married woman enrich peoples lives. Giving people lasting riches – the riches of God. We, as women, carry something unique to women, from God that makes the world better. The goodness and beauty that God has planned for mankind. Something man cannot do
Enih Sone 🌼
Looking First at Our Creator
In Genesis 1:27 it says, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Later in Genesis 2:18 the Lord said “…It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” (My own emphasis.)
The beauty of these scriptures is that it shows the value of both male and female. Because both were created in the image of God, both is of great and equal value. The word comparable indicates that their value is both equally great. While the two are binaries, they are also puzzle pieces – perfectly created to fit together to become one whole.
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24
God created men and women to encompass specific characteristics of who He is. He intended for men and women to work together to look after His beautiful world and to multiply – bringing glory to Him. We were not meant to be divided by gender roles and difference, but rather, these differences are meant to join us together into a strong, God-glorifying unit.
Every woman you walk past bears characteristics of God. Her beauty, kindness, meekness, mothering nature and strength – it’s all characteristics of God and it deserves to be celebrated. Throughout the scriptures, you can see God’s characteristics echoed throughout the personalities of the women whose stories we read (think Esther, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Ruth – all beautiful representations of God and womanhood).
Looking Inwards
I grew up with three brothers, I was the only girl and I often wondered why girls were the way they are. There were many stark differences between what I was allowed to do and what they were allowed to do, their freedoms versus mine, what was seen as improper with me but not them. Why did these differences make our lives so different? It seemed unfair, and all because I was a girl.
Now that I’m older, I understand the differences and I love being a woman. Especially in light of who God created me to be. I no longer want to do what my brothers do, I enjoy that God created me in a way that is different from them so I can use my differences to benefit the Kingdom in a way that they can’t, I can leave footprints that look different from theirs.
The heightened emotions women often feel is what allows us to be nurturing mothers, it allows us to have compassion for the poor and needy so that we can take action to help, it allows us to experience the world in a different way. It also gives us the strength and tenacity to speak up, to fight for what we believe in and to endure through hardships and trials.
Being a woman is in no way inferior to being a man (as younger me concluded) – it is a beautiful representation of God’s characteristics and it is something we need to embrace and celebrate to bring glory to Him. And godly men know the wonder and preciousness of a godly woman – celebrating her as an equal but beautifully different.
Looking Outwards
“She extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.” Proverbs 31:20
Upon entering the NPO world just over a year ago, I realised that there seems to be more women than men in this sector. As I understand more and more what Biblical womanhood is, I’m realising that this is how God designed men and women to be. We were created to have a high sense of compassion that drives us to action to help those in need in our communities.
And it’s a wonderful thing. It’s where our womanhood is best used and it’s where we can aid God in His desire to heal the broken (and as it goes, broken people respond better to the mothering kindness found in women). If I look at the women in my life, some of them quoted above, I can see how God’s nurturing, kind, passionate, loving nature is in them. The more they pursue God, the more they walk into their calling to help the needy, to speak wisdom and kindness to those around them and to love as if they have never been hurt before.
Being a woman is a privilege. And as I watch strangers and familiar women walk past me, I smile as I know God created each one perfectly and with purpose. And we deserve to be celebrated – because who we were created to be is glorifying our Creator!.
Celebrating Womanhood
Today marks a great day in history. It’s a day when women rallied together to stand up for their rights, their equality and their beliefs. Their boldness, strength and love for one another as fellow women allowed us to live as we do today. Rather than being stifled by a society that tried to prevent them from walking into who God created them to be, they fought for it. That deserves to be celebrated.
And so do you. No matter your situation in life, your womanhood and identity in Christ deserves to be celebrated. Your passions, ability to love, strength, endurance and heart for people deserves to be celebrated as it glorifies God when you use it for the good of others.
All humans – men and women – deserve to be celebrated. But today, I want to encourage you to take a moment and hear God’s heart for you. Ask Him to show you glimpses of His character in you, ask Him to open doors so that you may use what He’s given you to benefit those around you, and love on Him just as He loves on you daily.
Happy Women’s Day, all of you beautiful women!
