In God's Sight

Our Lord God created us male and female that together we might rule over all the earth, that we might become one. The man was created first, but it was not good for him to be alone, so woman was made for man, to be his helper. That is why it is good for wives to help their husbands and good for single women to help their Christian brothers. For this we were created.

What else we created for? What else is beautiful and pleasing in God’s sight?

The wife of noble character is clothed with strength and dignity. These are surprising beauties. They are born of security, of inner peace, knowledge and self-control. These are the beauties of a queen.

She can laugh at the days to come. To dignity and strength is added that sweet thing, a light heart.

She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. A woman with strength, dignity and lightness of heart is no fool. For these things stem from knowledge of the truth, from gaining of wisdom.

This queen of women goes about her days with confidence and joy and with a generous spirit that passes on the things she knows. And women, we are created to be queens.

Older women are to teach younger women. Their first instruction is to love your husbands and children. Single women are to love and help their sisters and brothers and to be loving aunties to children. Our first duty is to love! It is with love that we help.

We must also learn to be self-controlled and pure. As well as being dignified, wise and loving, we must be good. For evil deeds make nonsense of dignity and wisdom, and make love ugly.

We are to be busy at home. We are to keep all the practical things of the home in good order so that our husbands have full confidence in us, lacking nothing of value and so we might bring them good all the days of our lives. We are to make a home.

We are to be kind. All our strength and dignity, our wisdom and instruction, our self-control and purity, our busyness around the home, all this is to be done not sternly or militantly or anxiously, but from love, with joy and with kindness.

We are to be subject to our husbands, for this is what it means to be helpers and what it means for men to lead.

We are to be dignified, strong and joyful queens, teaching others. We are to be self-controlled and pure, to follow men’s lead, to be busy at home. And we are to do all these things with love and kindness.

We are to live with such purity and reverence that we would win over a non-believing husband. It is striking when a woman lives a good, a pure life. It is impressive when she lives her life reverently under God, knowing that all things are his, thankful that she is his. These things shine forth.

Outer beauty fades and outer ugliness is eclipsed by the beauty of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. A spirit that is pure and reverent is a spirit of gentleness and quietude. So too is a submissive, humble spirit, content and at peace. This is the spirit that comes when a woman knows she is loved by God. This is a spirit ready to love in return. When God sees this gentle, quiet spirit he finds her very beautiful.

And finally we are told: do what is right and do not give way to fear. We are to be gentle, quiet and submissive, but we are not to be spineless and cowardly. As weaker partners we will be fearful at times, but we are to keep on loving what is right and trusting that God will look after us. We are called to be wise and strong and self-controlled.

We were made to help men. In doing this we are to be subject to them. We are to love our husbands and children and brothers and sisters. We are to make a home. A woman who does these things is a woman of dignity, strength and joy, a woman who teaches others. In all we do we are to be pure, doing what is right. We are also to be kind. And we are to do it all under God, with reverence, having gentle, quiet spirits. This is how we make ourselves beautiful. We are then of great worth in God’s sight.

Quotes taken from Proverbs 31, Titus 2 and 1 Peter 3.