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At the center of every happy home...There is a Godly Woman |
A GODLY WOMAN by Pastor James Who is a godly woman? In Titus 2:3-5 the following exhortation is given to women: "The aged woman likewise that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober (sound-minded), to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste (holy), keepers at home (home guards), good, obedient (submissive) to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." The reason for this training is so the Word of God is not blasphemed. To blaspheme in Greek is "blasphemeo" which means to revile, attack, slander, defame, speak evil of, and to show contempt. This means if the woman is not doing the things spoken of here, the word of God would be blasphemed in the world. The word to "teach" verse 3, is the teaching of good things-"kalodidaskalos", not the teaching of doctrine. Again in 1st Peter 3:1-6, Peter gives the characteristics of a godly woman. In verse 1, he states that the godly behavior of a saved wife can win the husband to the Lord. See also 1st Corinthians 7:10-15. Paul uses the word "depart" here to mean: "to separate." If separation occurs, the partners are not to divorce. Sarah is given as an example of a woman who submitted to her husband 1st Peter 3:6. She twice complied with Abraham's request to say she was his sister. Genesis 12: 1 0- 20, and in Genesis 20: 1-17. Note verses 1-3,17. Note that Sarah also had a change of name as did Abraham. Let's see Genesis 17: 15-16. "Sarai" means my princess, but "Sarah" means "princess" This may mean she wasn't only going to be Abraham's princess, but the princess of all women. Sarah is also listed in the Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11 :11. A whole verse is devoted to her. Even when Sarah offered Abraham bad counsel to have a baby with her maid servant, Hagar, the final decision to do so rested with Abraham. Genesis 16:3. I believe the root cause of how the word of God becomes blasphemed is when the wife refuses to submit to her husband and decides to be her own leader. In Sarah's case she submitted to her husband all the way. What about Eve? Since she's the mother or all women, we should take a look at her. In Genesis 1 :27, we read that God created man, male and female. In Genesis 2:15-17, God gave specific instructions to the man, to dress the garden and to keep it. The word "dress" means to "cultivate" or "serve" it and the word "keep" means to "guard" it. In Genesis 2:18, 21-25, Eve was "built" from Adam. Adam was created "bara" but Eve was "built" "banah." Banah means to "build, establish, construct, rebuild." Eve was built to be a helpmeet to Adam, a helper suitable to him, his counterpart. Eve was to be a completion to Adam. Eve was to assist Adam in his responsibility of dressing and keeping the Garden of Eden. We see Eve, however, having a conversation with the serpent outside the presence of Adam. Though the first sin was one of omission, which is Adam's responsibility to guard the garden, Eve took upon herself the role of leadership in making the decisions regarding the commandments of God, which had not been given to her directly. She, therefore, became an easy prey to the serpent. She didn't refer to her covering Adam and say "Satan, I'm not listening to anything you say. You have to talk with my head, he makes the decisions over here and I help him make those decisions." In other words, talk to my lawyer. Instead Eve took upon herself Adam's position of headship and spoke with the Devil as one having authority. In other words, she usurped his position. Genesis 3: 1-6. She conversed with the serpent and in verse 6 made the decision based upon the serpent's deception. However, the sin didn't occur until Adam had eaten of the fruit-verse 6-7. In verse 17, God reminded Adam that he had listened to the voice of his wife, which was actually the voice of the serpent, in eating the fruit. God said the command was given to Adam. In the curse of Adam is death. Let's see 1 Tim 2:9-15. Paul says here he doesn't permit a woman to teach or usurp authority. The word for "teaching" here is for "doctrine" the Greek word is "Didasko" which means to "give instructions." In usurping authority the Eve permitted the serpent to hold conversation with her to deceive her and in doing so the man. This still applies today. When a woman usurps the authority of a men, it allows the devil to deceive her and in doing so, attempt to deceive the man also. One area of deception is that of beauty. The devil has deceived women that beauty is outer and not inner. However God stresses more on inner beauty and not outer: 1st Peter 3:2, Proverbs 31 :30, 1st Samuel 16:7, Mark 7:15,21-23. Some men want their wives to look like "Glamour girls" "Models" "Sports Illustrated" "Playboy" "Advertisements in newspapers." We know for sure that the "playboy" is not a "boy" but a naked woman enticed by the devil to seduce men. The whole purpose of these magazines are to deceive women to make them think that these are what men want and in so doing by seducing men by appealing to their evil, canal lustful nature. Men then seek these deceptions and then wish/hope their wives looked like that if they wef€ married and if not married to seek women based on these appearances. What would the opposite look like, if men saw women as persons of virtue, of purity, of the spirit, of inner strength and fortitude, of love and those who portray the beauty of God's creation. In the holiness of God is beauty. Psalm 96:9; 29:2; 110:3. As seen in Genesis 2:22, every woman is built special by God and therefore beautiful in his eyes. There’s no need for confirmation of that from a fickle-minded world. A woman devoted only to pleasure according to 1st Timothy 5:2, is dead. 2nd Timothy 3: 6, says there are women who haven't really being born again, who are lead captive, because they are laden with sins, and led away with divers lusts. These are all sorts of ideas, fads, movements, etc. In verse 7 it says these people in verse 2- are ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. It's like people's hairstyle becoming Princess Di, or Condelezza Rice's hairstyle or boots, as was happening in Europe or Oprah's trainer, chef and guests' ideas. The second instance of women usurping men's authority is in the area of witchcraft. Witchcraft means control. That is controlling and manipulating people to fulfill one's goals. The woman attempts to manipulate and control her husband, children or others. In Galatians 5:20 witchcraft (pharmakia-from which we get the word “pharmacy”), is one of the works of the flesh. In Exodus 22:18, God says a witch (sorceress) should be put to death. In Revelations 21:8 sorcerers (pharmakos-one who uses spells, drl;lgs, potions, enchantments), are included in the list for the Lake of Fire. In Acts 13:6, Bar Jesus is a magician (magos). His name "Elymas" means "wise." In other words, he was the "wise magician." Witchcraft always attempts to control authority. Whether in the church ( Galatians 3:1-3), in . government (Acts 8:8-11,18,20; or at home. In Bar Jesus' case, he was: One, in the place of authority, close to the proconsul. Two, he attempted to thwart the Gospel from the Governor, so he won't believe. This still happens today, there are those who seek to control leadership through the spirit of witchcraft. |