Biblically, what is the ideal woman—or what are aspects of ideal womanhood? Is it physical beauty? Beauty is very culturally specific and subject to vast international media marketing. In parts of Myanmar and Thailand, the longer the neck, the more beautiful you are. Truly beautiful women can have as many as 55 gold rings on their necks. In Masai tribes, it is long earlobes. In Ethiopia it is about dilating your lower lip with a wooden disc. In some oriental cultures it is all about the whiteness of your skin. In Mauritania, it is all about large women. In the Mauri culture, it is how you wear your tattoos.
Is it how strong and powerful you are? That is the big trend here in the US with such images as The Black Panther franchise and Woman King.
Is it talent? Intelligence? Confidence? Accomplishments? Salary? Sense of humor? How she takes care of the family and home? Career? Independence. How much she looks like or acts like Bella Hadid or Halle Berry?
Biblically none of these ranks in the top 10—these are very culturally driven traits—and Biblically, none of these traits will ultimately bring the glory, honor, and identity that a woman deeply desires and deserves.
It is time for a wake-up call for both women and men. We continue to sell the true gospel short. By that, I mean the good news of transformation and glory that we proclaim to people who are trapped in this ‘present evil age’. The good news is that women and men are looking for love, identity, worth and value in all the wrong places—and they do not satisfy. But in Christ, we can find true identity, worth and yes, even glory.
Biblically, what are the characteristics of the ideal womanhood? Not a Stepford robot. But a real woman made in the image and likeness of God. Ideal womanhood is a reflection of His Deity.
To put it differently, what does a spirit-filled woman look like? Or to put it another way, when a woman is filled with the Spirit of God, what naturally pours out of her? What does the beauty of God, the glory of God flowering through the daughter of Eve look like? What does this ‘feel’ like to a woman? This original beauty is what really makes a woman ‘hot’. This is what Adam saw that made him exclaim, “Whoah Baby!” (my rough translation).
To be clear,
1) Ideal womanhood is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Not a work of the flesh. What I will be speaking of will not be achieved by you trying harder. You will see why. Our desire in this series is not to guilt women into working harder but in asking for the Spirit’s power again.
2) Your achieving ideal womanhood or not does not affect your salvation. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, be assured that He loves you right now perfectly. He loves you far more than your momma ever did. You cannot improve on this love by achieving or take away from the onslaught of His love by failing. But it is our desire to more fully experience the benefits of what Christ purchased for us. It is a gospel presentation for other dissatisfied men and women. I will pick this up in the next article.
In the meantime, follow me on my podcast Gospel Rant (google Gospel Rant podcast). I am going through the Song of Songs. Women, you will be thrilled what the Bible says about how the love of God can redeem, rescue and shape your womanhood into something far more wonderful than you have ever dreamed.
Take Heart Child of God.
