Biblical Men and Women

Ladies, this first part is for you. If you went to AFTERdark then you probably remember a quote from Joe White when he spoke that went something like this: "There isn't a more beautiful creation than a Godly woman." Let me just tell you, that is truth. A lot of women don't understand their worth, as well as men, but ladies your heart is worth more than you know. Starting in 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 3 it says "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and find clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." Your number one goal as women, and once again as well as men, is to put God first in your life and to honor and please Him with your actions as well as your thoughts and desires. If your aim is to please a guy by trying to win him over in what you wear, how much make-up you have on, and whatever else you can think of then the guy isn't worth your time and you will only find heart-ache in doing so. If a man doesn't see your true heart, and that is hopefully for the Lord, and if he doesn't think that your relationship with Jesus is the most attractive and most important thing about you, he once again is not worth your time. All I am trying to say is: conduct yourself as pleasing to God and I promise you that if you are faithful in that then He will be faithful in putting a man that is worthy of that heart in your life, but may I add that He will only do this if having a husband is His will for your life to begin with. This is meant to be encouraging to you women out there to say that if you are pleasing the Lord and you have a "gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God's sight" then I promise you that a Godly man will see this, and I also promise you that you deserve nothing less than a Godly man that finds the most attractive quality about you in your relationship with Jesus Christ. We all know that outward beauty fades, but a gentle and quiet spirit is that of "unfading beauty" remember this and constantly seek it, ladies. Never be unequally yolked with a man in a relationship because that is not what God intended for you. He intended for you to be lead and encouraged spiritually, not brought down and to see your spiritual life diminish.

Now, Men, there is a lot more I can say about us for we have a lot of responsibility on our hands. In scripture, even though it was Eve who committed the first sin it was blamed on us because we are the spiritual leaders and should constantly be seeking our relationship with Jesus so that we become more firm in our faith. As men we are bombarded with countless numbers of temptations from every direction and in many different forms: from lust to pride, from discontentment to arrogance, and from lack of identity to envy. Many times we don't even know that we are being tempted because our identity has been found in certain temptations or sins and those make us who we are. Let me just tell you that if you are caught in sin right now in any way shape or form then turn to Jesus because just as it is for the ladies and their hearts, your hearts as men are worth more than you know as well and we must submit wholly to God because He has our hearts and is fervently taking care of it. Until a woman is united with you in marriage her heart is completely God's, meaning once the two have become one flesh God gives you her heart to take care of. Maybe this makes it hit home with you in how much responsibility you will have as a husband. You are to guard her heart under every circumstance and even though the wife submits to her husband, the husband is supposed to LOVE his wife. I would encourage every man who reads this to go and search the scriptures for the meaning of love as well as purity, not just in 1 Corinthians 13 either, but everywhere and see how Jesus loved people. Because you are to serve your wife and lead her, you are to "wash her in the word of God" to encourage her in her own relationship with Christ. There is so much more in being a husband so if God has placed the desire on your heart to have a wife one day then pray and strengthen your relationship with Jesus so that he may build you up into the man you NEED to be for your wife one day. And one more thing that may be the most convicting is something I heard from my pastor on how you should pursue a woman: she is your sister in Christ until God unites you both in marriage, so treat her as such.

Philippians 1:27 "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."