I just got in from a whirlwind of women at the True Woman National Conference 2014 in Indianapolis. What a ride! We heard from some pretty amazing speakers, and if you were following my live Twitter posts, you know I was excited!
There were women from all ages, backgrounds and countries. The teen track spilled over. (The fire marshal said no more girls in that room!) And my new friends from South Africa and I laughed realizing we represented two continents, One amazing God. It wasn’t too far into the conference that we all found God’s design for us women is far more than what our cultures have been shouting at us.
Could it be that we need to rethink our culture’s version of a strong woman?
True Womanhood?
The world would have us believe a strong woman is bossy, independent of men and God, free sexually and in charge of everything. True womanhood goes counter-cultural and calls out for women to examine God’s original design.
Simply put, God created us specific in our gender. He loves both genders equally and desires both seek to reflect Him in those genders. God’s design for true womanhood produces strong women that have soft hearts and backbones of steel.
On Friday morning, Mary Kassian blew me away with “7 Habits of Wimpy Women.” Not wanting to be a weak, wimpy woman, I furiously took notes. Here’s my take away:
A Guide to Wimpy Women
1. She tolerates creeps in her life.
Now, that isn’t just letting the wrong guy into your life. These creeps are sin and compromise that we allow. You know that teeny thing that doesn’t seem like a big deal. Beware, the subtle creeping of sin can be so gradual that one day you look up and shout, “How did that happen?” Mary Kassian had the answer: Sin doesn’t advance by leaps, it advances by creeps – one little bit at a time.
2. She fails to guard her mind.
This is the real battle ground. Wimpy women let whatever pops to their mind stay there. Not so with a woman of strength. She is intentional about what goes into her mind. She thinks about what she’s thinking about. She renews the wrong thinking to line up with truth. How does she know it’s wrong thinking? She spots the bad stuff by being so familiar with the right stuff in God’s word.
3. She lets things pile up.
Mary Kassian put it simply – Sin makes you stupid. Allowing old sins and thought patterns to pile up in the dark makes it harder to see the light of truth. We weren’t made to carry that much baggage. Burdens weigh us down. Expose sin to the light of prayer and confess it to God. You might even share it with a safe friend to help you see truth. A wimpy woman hides her sin in the dark. A woman of strength brings it to light.
4. She makes poor choices.
She makes a bad habit of not listening to good advice. She doesn’t weight the consequences. She prides herself in doing the opposite of wise counsel, calling it independence instead of what it is – rebellion against truth. A woman of strength weighs good counsel and considers her steps.
5. She is governed by her emotions.
She falls into the “I know – but…” syndrome.
* I know watching this movie isn’t good – But… I’m starved for romance.
* I know I shouldn’t get further into debt – But… those bad little shoes are calling my name.
A weak woman allows her emotions to drive her life. A woman of strength takes the “but” out of things and drives her emotions toward truth.
6. She wears a religious mask.
Always learning but never changing, hiding her true self only continues the masquerading. The wimpy woman knows all the Christian stuff and names. Unfortunately, knowing doesn’t always create a life and behavior that translates into a transformed life. But a woman of strength takes in knowledge and wants to rock it to her the core of her life.
7. She spins her tires.
Spinning the tires of her spiritual life, her only traction is defeat. She’s doesn’t experience growth and after 10 years she’s still the same. She doesn’t see her sin nature as something she needs to change. She acts strong but she’s just stagnated. But a woman of strength deals with her sin nature in a strong way. She leans on her savior and grows through humility. She’s going somewhere.
Whew!
The 7 habits of wimpy women has me on the hunt for the creeps in my own life. How about you? Want to kick wimpy out of your life? Get alone with God and ask him to show you your wimpy ways. Then, in humility and repentance, find your strength in Him and press into his ways.
Our culture needs to see more of Gods version of strong women.
Let’s stand up to compromise and creeps. Determine to stop being wimpy and shine the light of truth in our own lives and the culture we live in. When we do, the world will see the steel backbone and soft strength of true womanhood.