(Please do not read this as a complaint towards men, but as my personal challenge to you.)
I see it on a lot of men�s profiles that they want a woman like the one in Proverbs 31, a woman with a �quiet spirit�, or quoting the description of a wife�s duties in Ephesians 5:22-24. There is so much of �here is what I want,� and almost none of �this is what I am�, be it by Biblical or shallow standards. I have gotten first messages that have been like interrogations, IM chats that are one-sided interviews, complaints that he just cannot find a good woman.
But what about you, brothers, potential husbands and fathers? Being the head of the body does not give you a position of power, but a responsibility for righteousness.
There is no perfect woman, but will you still �present her to [yourself] as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless�? (Eph.) �A loving doe, a graceful deer�? (Proverbs 5:19) Beauty is fleeting, but will her body �satisfy you always,� and will you �ever be captivated by her love�? (Prov. 5:19)
What of your responsibilities listed around the scriptures you love to quote?
�Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.� (Ephesians 5:21)
But what about you, brothers, potential husbands and fathers? Being the head of the body does not give you a position of power, but a responsibility for righteousness.
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Well said, but head may not have the same meaning as we think of today. We think is means the leader. In that passage you find that God is the head of Christ
and Christ is the head of man. Still man disobeys God and rejects Christ. Women do this too but it is not what they want. Her
desire is towards the husband, Genesis 3:16.
God sent Christ, everything was created through Christ including man and woman was created through the man. Understanding the
word for head to mean source or fountain head clears up some relational issue. Man is the source of the woman. Not just physically
but emotionally as well.
Man does not become the leader of the wife, because she still needs to have her own personal relationship with Christ. :dancingp:
The man or husband does not become the way of salvation to the woman. The bible says she is to respect her husband
which may be hard if he is not a very respectable guy.
He is the source of her emotions and everything she does is a indirect result of her husbands love towards her.
this is sooooo true. if a man cannot see a woman through the eyes of Christ, as she becomes less beautiful physically he will lose interest. that is why so many husbands are leaving their wives after thirty years of marriage.
In a brief reply to the post above ^, I would wish to humbly and generously offer another perspective; unless a woman completely strays from Christ and turns to a life full of sin and proclaims to be an atheist to push unGodly agendas... she does *not* ever become less beautiful as each new day you discover something new and beautiful about her while still holding the same admiration of God's amazing work when you very first saw her. When you nurture a relationship, love, or a plant in the ground... it grows and grows!!
In contemporary American culture we have a severe problem with shallowness and superficiality - while some 800 years ago and beyond women with meat on their bones were considered healthy, very desirable and attractive, today there is a thought/belief system of what is beautiful, what is healthy, and what is desirable that is quite the opposite! The media and healthcare industry help shape and facilitate it quite a bit as does Hollywood by including some sort of fornication in the majority of films and today we have many ladies out there starving themselves to fit into this image while doing harm to their temples that God gave them. Some do it for better health, some do it to impress a very shallow boy. Everywhere we go, we are pretty much bombarded by advertising, much of which will include some discreet reference to physical intimacy simply to sell a product. A magazine cover, the actors on tv in sitcoms or other programming.
To any of the men out there who may be reading this thread: If you refuse an amazing Godly woman with a heart sold out for Christ simply because she isn't a stick... you truly do not deserve one or are far from ready for one in your life for companionship, courtship, or something that only God can bring together. He made us all unique, different shapes, different sizes and colors.
Don't let the world fool you into thinking what beauty is and what beauty is not, evensomuch that it may appear to 'fade' to some, seeing things as the fallen world does. As it is written, man looks towards the outwards appearance, but God looks to the heart. Being that we are disciples of Christ, and our goal is to be more like Him, should we not also look to the heart first and foremost, and allow the physical countenance to be considered the icing on the cake? Something to think about indeed!
