Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Is Your Life a Testimony to a Lost World?


God gives us commands to follow so we can have a powerful testimony to a lost world of His grace working mightily within His children through His Spirit. When we walk in obedience to Him, we adorn His Gospel and the world looks at us and thinks, "Those followers of Jesus walk what they talk. There just may be something to this Jesus thing." When we walk in disobedience to His Word, we blaspheme His Word and the world looks at us and thinks, "They act no differently from us and don't do what the Bible says to do, so it must not be real."

"Godly living has an effective and evangelistic impact on the world. The Gospel is powerfully effective if others see our transformed lives. In much of Paul's writings, he explains how people in an effective church live; we reach the world by how we live. God has a magnificent and wonderful design for women. It fulfills their created purpose, maximizes their uniqueness, makes them a blessing to the world, brings fulfillment to their own lives and glory to the name of God" {John MacArthur}.

What is this design for godly women? Young women are commanded to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed {Titus 2:4, 5}. From what I can see, these aren't just suggestions, they're commands. Women who want to give hope to a dying world, testify of God's powerful Word, and His design for the sexes by living their lives according to God's Word. Godly women love and obey their husbands, trying to please them, respect them and are a help meet to them. They dress modestly and decently saving their bodies for their husband's eyes only, having no desire to turn other men on. They love living pure lives and carefully watch over their lives and homes making sure nothing immoral, indecent or evil ever enters their home. They are keepers at home, loving to take good care of their homes realizing that God is a God of order and beauty. Even if they have little money, they make due and keep their homes clean since a clean home is a pretty home. They love their children enough to make many sacrifices to be home with them all the time raising them in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord, disciplining and training them to love the Lord, be obedient and love others deeply. These women are good women. Their children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excels them all. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that fears the LORD, she shall be praised {Proverbs 31:28-31}. All of this should be the normal lifestyle of godly women who love the Lord and His ways.

On the other hand, the world commands young women to put off getting married as long as possible so they can "find themselves," have an education, a career, be independent, and travel. When you do get married, absolutely don't submit and obey your husbands! Try manipulating your husband to help with the home, the children, and argue with him if he isn't doing things your way. Speak negatively about him to your friends and leave him if he isn't treating you the way you think he should. Forget about being discreet and chaste. Use your body as power over men! Wear immodest clothing and turn men on, thus believing that having men lust over you is great. Also, forget about purity. Work hard at becoming equal with men {the same as men} any way you can by having sex with whomever you please, with no commitment and then try to simply forget about the experience like men seem to do. Don't be like your mothers or grandmothers who were stuck home all day with children and housework. Get a job that keeps you away from your children and home all day so you're way too exhausted to want to spend time with them, demanding your husband help and then watching as everything falls apart around you. In this way, you are doing things just as the world does and saying nothing positive about God and His incredible ways. 

Thus, their marriages are just as unhappy as the world's. Their children grow up rebelling against the ways of the Lord. Their homes are just as messy, they eat the same junk food the world eats since they have no time to shop for and fix nourishing food and their life exhibits no hope to give to a lost and dying world. They are not exhibiting by their lives that doing things God's ways are much better, thus denying the power of God's written Word.

Let me ask you, what kind of a woman are you? Does your life preach the Gospel by adorning it or does it blaspheme the Gospel and make a mockery of it? Only you can answer this question.
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