Yesterday, I discussed the disconnect between what many younger girls want and what they actually do to go about getting it. The local church is the place where they can learn about what it means to be a woman and live according to God's guidelines for them. And the Bible has a lot to say on this. Here is the continuation on yesterday's post.
The Value of Discipleship
If we are not intentional at combating the voices of the culture, the culture will eventually win. While many girls today are reacting to the feminism and “I am woman hear me roar” spirit of their mothers’ generation, their moms were reacting to the stay-at-home mom of the June Cleaver generation. Simply letting the rebellion against careerism win will not be enough over the long haul. And even then, so many of our young girls want what the Bible teaches but have no idea how to get there.
Whenever we need to reorient our understanding of something as important as womanhood, we must go to God’s word. And as usual, God has not left us to ourselves in understanding how he wants us to live as women. The primary way we are going to help young girls prepare for marriage and grow into godly womanhood is through intentional discipleship. Titus 2:3-5 is where we see this practically laid out. Paul gives Titus the biblical basis for women mentoring women within the local church. Of all of the ways he could tell Titus to teach his congregation, he tells him to have the older women train the younger women in godliness, womanhood, and life within the family. Translated to today’s society and this looks like life-on-life ministry where older women are giving themselves in order to train the next generation. A quick survey of younger women in your congregation would probably show you that they are yearning for this type of relationship with an older woman.
Our churches must provide an avenue for these relationships to happen. Whether it’s equipping older women in how to teach and pass on their wealth of wisdom. Or it’s providing a safe place for these relationships to foster and grow. The best place for intentional, counter-cultural discipleship is in the local church. The local church is God’s means of glorifying himself in this world, through proclaiming the gospel and equipping his people. In a local church gender-specific discipleship ministry, young girls can ask the hard questions, see godly womanhood lived out, and get teaching they need to grow in godliness.
Next time we will look at the girl's responsibility in making all this happen.
Read Part 1