The following is further evidence of each woman's need to be a theologian in her own right; don't run from theology, embrace its sweet fruit!
Then pass it on to your daughters!
How to Raise Feminine Daughters
by Susan Hunt
(This is an excerpt from chapter 9 of Biblical Womanhood in the Home and is made available by Crossway Books.)
Our daughters will be products of their theology. Their knowledge—
or lack of knowledge—of who God is and what He has done for them
will show up in every attitude, action, and relationship. Their worldview
will be determined by their belief system.
We must teach our daughters that their value and identity lie in
the fact that they are image-bearers of the God of glory. This will protect
them from seeking significance in the inconsequential shallowness
of self-fulfillment, personal happiness, materialism, or others’
approval.
Our daughters must know the wondrous truth that their overarching
purpose in life is God’s glory. This must determine every decision
they make, from their choice of clothes to their choice of a
husband. The question that guides all of our decisions should be:
Does this glorify God? First Corinthians 10:31 should be one of the
first verses they memorize: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever
you do, do it all for the glory of God.” And they should see us making
decisions based on this mandate.
The world will tempt our daughters to look to their feelings and
experiences as their authority, but we must show and tell them that
God’s Word is the ultimate authority for faith and life.
We must tell our daughters about the expanse of God’s love. They
must know that we are justified and sanctified by grace. It seems that
women are particularly prone to a performance orientation of life. We
may acknowledge that we are saved by grace, but somehow we get
entangled in “works righteousness” when it comes to our sanctification.
We think that if we are a little better, God will love us a little
more. This distortion spills over into all other relationships. If I’m
a little better, my parents will love me more . . . or my friends will love me
more . . . or my husband will love me more. This is exhausting for the one
trying to earn everyone’s love, and it drains the people whose approval
we are trying to earn. Children who think they must establish their
own righteousness through accepted behavior eventually become so
weary that they give up or become masters of deceit.
A biblical understanding of justification will free our daughters.
The more they understand that God declares us to be just in His sight
on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ and that the righteousness
of Jesus is deposited in our spiritual bank accounts, the
more they will live in the beauty and freedom of His grace.
All of this means that I must search my own heart. Am I trying
to elevate myself through my daughter’s accomplishments and
behavior? Is my primary concern her happiness or her holiness? Is
God’s glory really the driving passion of my own life? These questions
take me to the cross. They take me to Jesus to plead for grace
and wisdom.
It is against this backdrop that we are able to perceive the particular
uniqueness of God’s creation of woman.
by Susan Hunt
(This is an excerpt from chapter 9 of Biblical Womanhood in the Home and is made available by Crossway Books.)
Our daughters will be products of their theology. Their knowledge—
or lack of knowledge—of who God is and what He has done for them
will show up in every attitude, action, and relationship. Their worldview
will be determined by their belief system.
We must teach our daughters that their value and identity lie in
the fact that they are image-bearers of the God of glory. This will protect
them from seeking significance in the inconsequential shallowness
of self-fulfillment, personal happiness, materialism, or others’
approval.
Our daughters must know the wondrous truth that their overarching
purpose in life is God’s glory. This must determine every decision
they make, from their choice of clothes to their choice of a
husband. The question that guides all of our decisions should be:
Does this glorify God? First Corinthians 10:31 should be one of the
first verses they memorize: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever
you do, do it all for the glory of God.” And they should see us making
decisions based on this mandate.
The world will tempt our daughters to look to their feelings and
experiences as their authority, but we must show and tell them that
God’s Word is the ultimate authority for faith and life.
We must tell our daughters about the expanse of God’s love. They
must know that we are justified and sanctified by grace. It seems that
women are particularly prone to a performance orientation of life. We
may acknowledge that we are saved by grace, but somehow we get
entangled in “works righteousness” when it comes to our sanctification.
We think that if we are a little better, God will love us a little
more. This distortion spills over into all other relationships. If I’m
a little better, my parents will love me more . . . or my friends will love me
more . . . or my husband will love me more. This is exhausting for the one
trying to earn everyone’s love, and it drains the people whose approval
we are trying to earn. Children who think they must establish their
own righteousness through accepted behavior eventually become so
weary that they give up or become masters of deceit.
A biblical understanding of justification will free our daughters.
The more they understand that God declares us to be just in His sight
on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ and that the righteousness
of Jesus is deposited in our spiritual bank accounts, the
more they will live in the beauty and freedom of His grace.
All of this means that I must search my own heart. Am I trying
to elevate myself through my daughter’s accomplishments and
behavior? Is my primary concern her happiness or her holiness? Is
God’s glory really the driving passion of my own life? These questions
take me to the cross. They take me to Jesus to plead for grace
and wisdom.
It is against this backdrop that we are able to perceive the particular
uniqueness of God’s creation of woman.
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