by Chelsea Magwire

For many Christian women, the Proverbs 31 woman has become the face of biblical womanhood. She is the standard to aspire to and the measuring stick we quietly hold ourselves against. Indeed, she is a model any woman would be wise to emulate. She is the type of woman who the wisest man to ever live, King Solomon, thought that his sons should seek to marry. But what if she was never meant to carry that weight alone?

Womanhood isn’t confined to a handful of passages or biblical heroines. It’s a thread woven throughout the entire story of Scripture. 

A passage often referenced but rarely lived out fully in our churches today is Titus 2:3-5. We say, “These are things young women should be.” And they are. But where there is something to be learned, there is necessarily something to be taught. The young women of the Church are all but crying out for a virtuous woman to take the time to lead them gently along this journey and to teach them the things Paul describes.

If young women are to love their husbands and their children, and to be self-controlled, to be pure, to build up their homes, to be kind, to submit to their husbands (yes, God DID really say that), and all of this for the sake of the Gospel, then the older women must also be and do these things. They must also be willing to love the young women in their lives enough to sacrifice time and energy to disciple them. We all, as Christian women, have opportunities to learn and opportunities to teach to and through the other women and girls God has placed in our lives. A 70 year old woman can learn from an 80 year old woman. A 30 year old woman can teach a 20 year old woman. We are never too old or too young for good, sanctifying discipleship. We must never be too busy, either. God, through the Apostle Paul, said that these things are necessary for the sake of the Gospel.

And for the sake of the Gospel, by His grace, I will steward this semi-regular column well to share all that God has taught me about biblical womanhood.

the author is a mother, wife and Orange County resident