If a girl makes herself the kind of woman God expects her to be, she will be the kind of woman a godly man desires. I found Phylicia attractive because she desired to be more like Christ, and she called me to a higher standard because I wanted to be worthy of a woman like her. If you make yourself beautiful in God’s eyes, you will automatically be beautiful (generally attractive) in the eyes of a godly man.
Godly men aren’t always as “cool” as some of the guys in the church. They might not have all the physical qualities Hollywood sets as the standard. But in the end, the man who worked and loved and fought for his God and his family will win and his legacy will last – and the guy with the great hair and cool car and shallow faith will be remembered only for those few things he possessed in, rather than contributed to, his world.
It seems counter intuitive at first.
As a single woman, I imagined a lot of things about marriage. I imagined walks in the woods, lovely dinners on a quaint table, running together on some paved pathway that was downhill both ways…
Well, the walks DO happen… when we aren’t working. And healthy, tasty, affordable meals do make it on my tableclothed-and-centerpieced table – because I plan and make them. And running together? We won’t talk about that one.
There was one other thing I believed as a single woman – something many young women believe. I thought marriage would solve my loneliness. Though I didn’t say as much in words, I pictured marriage as that perfect companionship where the love of a man would make me feel secure.
Sure, I knew God would be my confidence and security. But marriage would definitely help.
Rather then being ‘against’ what one man says about women, consider: are we for what God says about women?
With this in mind, below is a list not of the women Christian men shouldn’t marry, but the ones they should.
In this post I am simply talking about respect, though Paul had just finished a discussion of submission (read my post Biblical Submission is Dangerous for my thoughts on that topic). Respect is a command from God. That means acting in a respectful manner even when I do not feel respectful toward Mr. M. I learned this the hard way, but I’ve found, as I’ve grown in the discipline of respect, that changing my manner improves arguments, cultivates good communication, and affirms my love for him better than anything else I can do.