I am convinced that godly femininity is one of God’s greatest gifts to humanity. When I think of godly femininity, I think of my mother, and I am grateful. When I think of godly femininity, I think of a phrase from an old advert for Johnson’s baby powder, ‘Soft as a mother’s touch’. Women have the power to heal in a way that is unique to womankind: their power lies in their compassionate hearts, soothing words and gentle hands.
I am convinced that godly femininity is one of God’s greatest gifts to humanity.
Women are blessed with merciful hearts and enduring patience unique to their kind, and it should not be underestimated. It is with good reason that when a child is hurting, they reach for their mother; when a man is hurting, he reaches for his wife.
A woman makes a house into a home – she fills it with beauty and warmth. Women have the ability to nurture and make something beautiful out of nothing.
I shudder to think of what life would be like without womankind. I am quite sure it would be a cold, hard, merciless world. The world as it is can be cold and cruel, but a world without women would be simply unbearable.
Measuring Femininity by the Wrong Standard
One of the frustrating developments in recent times, which is most certainly instigated by satan, is to measure femininity by the wrong standard. God made femininity to be the perfect complement to masculinity, but instead, they are often depicted as competing with each other. This is tragic, because their respective strengths and weaknesses were designed to perfectly supplement what is lacking in the other.
God made femininity to be the perfect complement to masculinity, but instead, they are often depicted as competing with each other.
In our ‘dog eat dog’ world, mercy and gentleness have often been framed as a weakness, but Jesus said that it is the meek who will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).
In order to ‘even the playing fields,’ there has been a feminising of men and a masculinising of women in our culture, but this was not God’s intention. It is a distortion of God’s design, and it robs each gender of its intended glory.
Leopards vs Lions
To borrow an analogy from nature, if we had to evaluate a leopard using the strengths of a lion as the standard by which to judge it, we might conclude that a leopard is a rather pathetic predator. After all, the leopard doesn’t measure up to the raw power or size of the lion, and its roar is far less potent. The leopard could never be the king of the animal kingdom. But to evaluate a leopard in this way is foolishness!
To make the characteristics of a lion the standard by which to measure any animal is simply arbitrary and ridiculous. The glory of the leopard is unique to the leopard. The strengths of a leopard have to do with stealth and agility. The leopard is matchless in the category of big cats when it comes to its elusive mystique. In fact, in all my game-viewing trips, I have never yet had the joy of spotting a leopard, for no lack of trying!
Celebrating Godly Masculinity & Femininity
In the same way, godly femininity has a glory unique to itself and it should be celebrated for what it is, not contrasted with what God did not intend it to be. God created woman to complete man, not to compete with him. It is only when godly masculinity and godly femininity are nurtured and celebrated that our families and communities will most glorify God.
*Originally published on Luke’s personal blog on 10 January 2022.
