Created to be a Lifegiver...

Mother and Child Reading
by Frederick Warren Freer

Five Aspects of Woman Series ~ Post #8

The third aspect of woman which has been identified is that of Lifegiver.  Lifegiving was intended by God to be a dominant theme in every woman's life, whether she is single or married, with or without children.  It is a basic element of womanhood that can be expressed in various ways.

What is meant then by "lifegiving"?  Lifegiving can be defined as raising life above mere existence to meaningful living.  Women were created physically, emotionally, and spiritually with a unique capacity to do just that.    After God pronounced the curse in Genesis 3, Adam named his wife Eve, which means "mother of all the living" and his spiritual eyes were opened to her destiny as he discerned her role and accepted and respected her in a new way.

Every woman can make the choice to be the lifegiver she was created to be.  She has the capacity to partner with God and man to physically bring life and to nurture it with food, clothing, shelter and care.  She also has the emotional capacity to give life by nuturing the soul and spirit through her words and actions in teaching, comforting, encouraging, admonishing, healing, and beautifying.

Wherever life exists, there is work to be done because all life needs enrichment and nuturing, whether socially, intellectually, artistically, spiritually, emotionally or any other way that raises life above mere existence.   Who are the people in your lifegiving domain?  Here are some I have identified in mine:

*husband
*sons and daughters-in-law
*grandchildren
*parents
*relatives
*friends
*friends of children
*children of friends
*neighbors
*strangers I help through serving various ministries

*All content of this series is based on what I learned from the study "Five Aspects of Woman" by Barbara Mouser, and taught by Helga Gross at the Hudson Community Chapel. While this summary is my own, the entire study was developed by Mrs. Mouser, and can be purchased through the International Council for Gender Studies website.

Be back soon...

I'm not sure what happened to January and February.  I fully intended to resume posting this series right after the holidays.  I'm getting my act together now, so watch for the next post soon on the Five Aspects of Woman.  We will look at the woman as a Life-Giver.

We interrupt this program...

In the spirit of my desire to keep Christmas simple, sane, and sacred this year, I won't be posting on this blog until after the holiday season. I wanted to keep the series on the Five Aspects of Woman continuous here ~~ but I will be posting about my life in the sandwich generation regularly over at www.lifebetweenthebuns.blogspot.com, as always. I hope you will visit me there!

I have finished summarizing the first two aspects of woman ~~ Mistress of The Domain and Helper-Completer. When I resume posting here I will summarize the other aspects ~~ Life-Giver, Lady of Wisdom, and Glory of Man. I hope you are enjoying these insights into biblical femininity as put forth by Barbara Mouser, and I look forward to continuing in January.

I want to wish all my blogger friends a wonderful Christmas season. I am thankful to have met each and every one of you here in the blogosphere and look forward to getting to know you even better in the coming New Year!

♫ "Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see

Hail the incarnate Diety

Pleased as man with man to dwell

Jesus our Emanuel!" ♫

The Redeemed Helper-Completer

Five Aspects of Woman Series ~ Post #7

The fallen helper-completer we saw in the last post was a pathetic, unhappy creature, grasping to obtain a role that was delegated to the man. She was rebellious in her thinking and actions. Being deceived and cursed, she was never at peace with herself or with men in particular, and could never properly see her role as God designed it. She believed that to be subordinate was the same thing as being inferior, and she wanted no part of that.

When our spiritual eyes are opened to Truth, we can realize that we can embrace our femininity without giving up "who we are". We can understand that just as the members of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, being One, are equal in essence, and they are Divine, they have different roles which complement. Likewise, man and woman are both equally human, but with different genders and different roles. The Great Designer created the genders to compliment each other, not compete with each other.

The Redeemed Helper-Completer, because of Christ, sees herself as a competent help-mate to her husband and knows by nature she is designed to come along beside him to help and complete him. God did not prounounce His creation to be "very good" until He made her to be a loving, helping companion for the man.

We say "because of Christ" to indicate that without embracing Christ's redemptive work on the cross, it would be impossible for the woman to fulfill her role with complete acceptance and joy. Just as Christ did not grasp at His Divinity but instead willingly layed down His life sacrificially and took on the role of a servant, a redeemed woman does not have to grasp at her equal humanity with the man, but can accept and embrace her femininity and be what Jesus asks her to be: like Him.

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men." Philippians 2:5-7

Because of Christ's example, a woman is free to see herself as a necessary, complimentary, and competent aspect of human kind. Just as Christ's servanthood did not diminish His Divinity, the woman's helper-completer role does not diminish her humanity.

God asks of the woman no less than He asked of Christ -- to submit, respond, trust, obey, and to give life through our own bodies, whether physically or through our servant role.

Next ~~ Partnering with God: The Woman as Lifegiver

*All content of this series is based on what I learned from the study "Five Aspects of Woman" by Barbara Mouser, and taught by Helga Gross at the Hudson Community Chapel. While this summary is my own, the entire study was developed by Mrs. Mouser, and can be purchased through the International Council for Gender Studies website.

Helper-Completer...or...Deceived Competer?

Five Aspects of Woman Series ~ Post #6

As we saw in the previous post in this series, God saved the crown jewel of all His Creation for last when He made the woman from the man and for the man. Finally, He pronounced His work to be "very good" and satisfied, He rested from His labors.

One detail that can be easily overlooked in the Biblical account of Creation is that even before the first woman was made from man's side, God had placed Adam in the midst of the Garden of Eden and gave him freedom to eat anything there with the one exception -- the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The command not to eat of that one tree was given directly to Adam, and Adam ultimately would be accountable for the keeping of God's command. (Gen. 2:15-18)

We know what happened next. The woman that God made to be a blessing for Adam was deceived by the cunning serpent, and Adam chose to go along with disobedience to their Creator rather than to be the strong, ruling head of the woman and put a stop to what was about to happen. While both Adam and Eve sinned, Adam bore the responsibility. Judgment and death now entered the world, and they both were banished from the beautiful garden, left to be on their own to eke out their existence apart from the constant fellowship of God their Creator.

God's judgment was swift and devastating. A number of curses fell upon all of God's creation because of one man's sin. Nothing would ever be the same again. The beautiful ideal of the woman being created to complement and complete the man was now corrupted. Before the curse, woman felt protected and happy with the man being her head. She was pleased to be his beloved, and it was his love for her that gave her contentment in her role.

The woman is no longer content to be the crown of the head; now she battles to be the head. Men now struggle to maintain headship, and woman is constantly rebellious and manipulative. Everything is in disorder compared to what God intended in the beginning.

Ever since the curse, woman has fixed in her unredeemed heart the ambiguity of wanting the companionship of the man, yet at the same time wanting to control him. Though she was fashioned to be his perfect helper, instead she seeks to dominate him.

The fallen helper-completer is not only at odds with the man for whom she was made, but she is at odds with herself and with her Creator. Instead of embracing her complementary role in the male-female relationship, the woman is intent on competing with the man. In this cursed and fallen state, she is completely deceived and doesn't realize that she cuts herself off from the very thing her heart desires the most -- intimate fellowship with her help-mate and with her God.

Next ~ The Redeemed Helper-Completer

*All content of this series is based on what I learned from the study "Five Aspects of Woman" by Barbara Mouser, and taught by Helga Gross at the Hudson Community Chapel. While this summary is my own, the entire study was developed by Mrs. Mouser, and can be purchased through the International Council for Gender Studies website.

Made from the man, for the man. Say WHAT?

The Creation of Eve by Michelangelo (1508-1512), The Sistine Chapel ~ The Vatican

Five Aspects of Woman Series ~ Post #5

The next aspect of woman as identified by Barbara Mouser, after Mistress of the Domain, is that of "Helper-Completer". This may be the most difficult aspect that women today, even Christian women, need to come to terms with. The idea that woman was made from the man and for the sake of the man is, to say the least, extremely counter-culture.

I hope you will stay with me here while we take a look at this Biblical concept. On Day 6 of Creation Week, the first two chapters of the book of Genesis tell us that God made the first man, Adam, as well as all the animals and birds of the sky. He then paraded each one before Adam's eyes and commissioned him to give each one its name. In this way, God showed Adam that there was no other creation like him...no one to come along beside him to help him in his work.

"Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make a helper suitable for him." (Gen. 2:18) The Scripture goes on to tell that God caused a deep sleep to fall over Adam, and God Himself performed surgery by opening up Adam's side, taking out a rib, and closing up the flesh.

We aren't told whether Adam remained in his sleep while God fashioned the woman from his rib, but we know that at some point, God Himself brought woman to the man. Adam then said, "This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (Gen. 2:23)

Personal photo of display at the Creation Museum, Petersburg, KY, 2010

While the man was created from the earth and for the earth, to till it and make it productive, woman was created from the flesh and bone of the man, was brought to the man, to help and complete the man. Everything else that God had created, He pronounced it to be "good", except for the aloneness of the man, which He pronounced "not good". God did not make a "mistake" when he made man without a suitable helper...timing is everything! He intentionally created woman in the way He did to model the respective roles of each gender. Man was created first because he is the head and leader, but man needs woman to support him and provide him fellowship. "For indeed, man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake." (I Cor. 11:9)

Woman was created as a Divine gift to the man. She was created to be his help-mate and encourager. While usually the man is the "bread-winner", the woman often protects the family assets. She bears his children and nutures them. While men are typically task-oriented, women are more relationship-oriented. Men are by nature risk-takers, while women are security-conscious. The list can go on and on, as the classic differences in the natures of the sexes are well known.

None of this says that the woman is inferior in status to the man. In fact, I like to say that in all of God's Creation, the Woman is His Crown Jewel! She was the last of His creative acts, and the accomplishment that brought the Creator to rest and satisfaction.

The Bible presents the complimentary truths that women are at the same time equal to the man and yet the man is the head of the woman. The Five Aspects of Woman study uses these Scripture verses to illustrate this:

Gen. 1:26; 2:18:

*man and woman were both made in God's image (equality)

*woman was made from the man and for him (man's headship)

I Cor. 11:3, 9, I Cor. 11:11-12:

*both dependent on each other (equality)

*woman was created for the man (man's headship)

I Peter 3:7:

*man and woman are joint heirs of the grace of life (equality)

*woman is the weaker vessel (man's headship)

Special note: Most men and women have a strong desire for marriage, though we may spend a good portion of our lives being single, or some people may never marry. This does not change the created purposes of the feminine and masculine characteristics or attributes. Nor does it say that each and every person should be married. If you are a single woman, you can still recognize that you have a freedom in your singleness to use the gifts that are fundmental to who you are as a woman. That would include a natural ability to be relational, to be a helper-completer for many people, to use your insights and unique gifts to complement those of others.

If you ARE married, how does your husband feel your support? How are you demonstrating your respect for his leadership in your life? These questions were posed to me in my workbook when I took this course 10 years ago, and my children had not yet left the nest. This is how I answered:

"I try to keep things orderly at home and to keep the family relationships/schedules under control so that he doesn't have to be so side-tracked and can concentrate on doing his main job. When he is out of town on business, we stay in touch by phone or fax. (Today it would be email!) When he is sick or hurt physically or emotionally, I am his confidant and advocate. We try to eat together as a family as often as possible, and we don't eat until he gets home and to the table, as a rule. He also gets passed the food dishes first, and is usually the one to ask the blessing. This builds "oneness" because we are trying to demonstrate (to our children) that we are in agreement with his position of family headship."

Next ~ Helper-Completer, or Ambiguous Heart?

*All content of this series is based on what I learned from the study "Five Aspects of Woman" by Barbara Mouser, and taught by Helga Gross at the Hudson Community Chapel. While this summary is my own, the entire study was developed by Mrs. Mouser, and can be purchased through the International Council for Gender Studies website.

Born again, I am a redeemed mistress of my domain...

The Milkmaid by Jan Vermeer (c.1658-1650)

Five Aspects of Woman Series ~ post #4

Some years ago my husband and I sat in the kitchen of an elderly Jewish lady, a Holocaust survivor who we had become acquainted with after I had heard her speak about her facinating life story. As we sat around her table, she asked us point blank what we Christians meant when we spoke of being "born again". We shared with her what we have come to believe and know and have experienced in our own lives--that though we were born into a sinful and fallen world, and we ourselves had lived in rebellion against our Creator, that we have come to understand and believe that God has provided for us a way to be reconciled with Him. God did for us through Christ what we could not do for ourselves. He reconciled us to Himself by removing our sin and guilt. Through faith in the righteous work of Jesus Christ, we are no longer alienated from God, but instead we stand as holy and righteous before Him. We have been redeemed--bought with a price.

Being born again means I now have a new nature, and even though living in a fallen world is a struggle, my life now is filled with hope and and joy. It has meaning with an eternal perspective. When things are falling apart all around me, I know this is a temporary condition, and that God is saving His creation in the same order in which it fell: the hearts of Adam and Eve fell first, bringing decay and death into the world. God is redeeming the hearts of mankind and bringing spiritual health and life to those who believe, and someday will restore His physical creation as well, even our own bodies and the earth itself.

Positionally, I am a redeemed mistress of my own domain. Even though I am weak, I am strong because of the grace of Christ. I lean on Him constantly to continue to work in me and show me how I can better bring honor and glory to Him each day of my life. I haven't "arrived" but I am on a journey. I am in the process of being perfected.

As a redeemed mistress of my domain, I thrill to learn, own, and master those areas of my life that I instinctively know were Tailor-made for me. I feel good about myself when I focus on being a creative, productive person within my sphere of influence. Clothed in the righteousness of Christ, I can know I am approved by God, and I reflect His glory to others. I am free to live my life in the image of God by being fruitful, by ruling and by subduing in those areas that make up my personal domain, and where I will be accountable to Him.

My heart's desire is to be a faithful steward of my domain, and I long to hear the words of Christ: "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" (Matthew 25:23)

Are you a born-again, redeemed mistress of your domain?

Next ~ It is not good for the man to be alone

*All content of this series is based on what I learned from the study "Five Aspects of Woman" by Barbara Mouser, and taught by Helga Gross at the Hudson Community Chapel. While this summary is my own, the entire study was developed by Mrs. Mouser, and can be purchased through the International Council for Gender Studies website.

What went wrong?

The Laundress by Toulouse Lautrec - 1889

Five Aspects of Woman Series ~ Post #3

In your God-given calling to be a productive mistress of your domain, have you ever wondered why, no matter how hard you might try to keep up with things...your garden, your laundry, keeping your stuff organized, or any number of other items, that every single thing you attempt to maintain doesn’t stay organized, clean, or weed-free? Our houses wouldn't stay clean, for example, even if we would lock the door and keep everyone out. Eventually they would fill up with dust, possibly bugs, and start to smell bad. If we waited long enough, furniture and drywall would start to rot. Pipes might freeze and cause water damage. There is simply no way to keep anything in an original, pristine condition.

When Adam and Eve chose to sin against God through disobedience, they essentially corrupted the Divine image in which they were created. Their pure and innocent fellowship with Him was broken, and the day they sinned, they died spiritually. They became rebellious and hostile toward God by not trusting in His Word. God's judgment was severe and swift:

"Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Genesis 3:17-19

Everything in all of God’s beautiful and perfect creation is now affected by the sin of our first parents. By not trusting their Creator, they blew it. Death, both spiritual and physical, became the abnormal result for all of mankind. The whole creation is in bondage to the process of decay, and continues to groan in frustration and helplessness. To make matters worse, there was not a thing they could do to restore the perfect relationship they had with their Creator, and this has been the sad state of man ever since. As Barbara Mouser says, “We cannot think, work, moralize, sexually reproduce, or emotionally feel our way back to God.”

Even our most precious and loving relationships with others are now marred by sin. The closest of marriage partners still have to make a daily decision to love, honor, and respect each other and it takes real effort to think more highly of the other. Child-rearing is often an overwhelming challenge; friendships can be plagued with frustrations and misunderstandings. Sometimes it might even seem like it is too difficult to make the effort to be a real friend, much less to reach out to a stranger in need. None of these things come to us naturally out of the goodness of our hearts, because there IS no good in our hearts.

Our personal domains which God originally gave us to subdue and rule over and be productive in now rebel against us, just as Adam and Eve rebelled against God. In plain words, life is a struggle.

What are some of the areas of your domain where you feel the consequences of the Curse no matter how hard you try or work to bring order to things?

Next ~ So what's the remedy?

*All content of this series is based on what I learned from the study "Five Aspects of Woman" by Barbara Mouser, and taught by Helga Gross at the Hudson Community Chapel. While this summary is my own, the entire study was developed by Mrs. Mouser, and can be purchased through the International Council for Gender Studies website.

You were created to be the mistress of your domain...

Lydia the Hospitable

picture in the public domain

Five Aspects of Woman Series ~ Post #2

“Jesus, my God and King, It was You who came to earth to live as a man, and it was You who brought a new dignity to the status of women. Your expressions of kindness and love toward women was, is, and always will be, unsurpassed. When I think of all my doubts, my confusion, my unwillingness to receive all that you intended for me to be from the beginning, I stand ashamed of my shortcomings. I ask that you will purify my heart, my mind, and my will through this study, that I might more lovingly reflect Your heart, Your mind, and Your will. This is only possible through your love and forgiveness, for which I now pray. Amen.”

As I began this Bible study in September of 2000, I wrote down this prayer. It is still the prayer of my heart today. We, as women, desperately need to see ourselves as unique creations of God, and understand that we were uniquely created for unique purpose. We need to support each other and build each other up as often as we possibly can. Matthew 6:22 says tells us that the eye is the light of the body. In other words, we need to be able to “see” ourselves correctly as God intended, so that we can mature to become the productive, effective, and confident rulers of the domain God has given to us. A proper view of our life provides the proper basis for living.

Just what is our domain anyway? Our domain consists of everything in our lives for which we are responsible. Our personal domain would include such things as our relationships, our bodies, our time and our talents. It would also include parts of the physical world around us...anything that would be in our charge or within our ability to control.

When mankind was created, God issued His mandate and gave us His divine authority to subdue, rule, and to be productive. This mandate might be called “The Great Commission of the Old Testament.” For we find in Genesis 1:28 these words: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

As I began to think about what kinds of things made up "my domain". I listed six categories for which I knew I will be accountable to God. Here are the areas I pin-pointed:

1) relationships

2) words

3) home management

4) talents/gifts

5) stewardship of money

6) attitudes

Next, I looked at each of these general areas, and thought about them more specifically. For example, under "relationships" I listed: husband, children, parents, in-laws, siblings, friends, neighbors. Under "talents/gifts", I listed: hospitality, writing, teaching, reading, organizational skills. I did this with each of the categories. Then I chose one area that needed better stewardship, (money) and made the decision to do something about it in the coming week. In my workbook, I wrote: "This week I need to set up and organize my files and home office space. I also need to work on the family budget."

As I learned more about my call to be the mistress of my own domain, and thought more about the reality of someday meeting my King face to face and giving an account of my stewardship, my identity as His chosen viceroy began to come clearer into focus. I was asked in my workbook what was one thing I want to be able to give to Christ as a fruit of my life. I wrote this answer:

"I would like to be able to say that because I was a concientious steward of my time, money, and talents and recognized my capability, authority, and responsibility to be the mistress of my domain, that I was free to impact the lives of others for eternity's sake~~even if that impact was a cup of water. I especially want to be successful at the parenting game so that my fruit will produce seed for more good fruit."

Or to say it another way, as Erma Bombeck did, "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."

What is your domain, and what are you doing with it?

Next~ what went wrong?

*All content of this series is based on what I learned from the study "Five Aspects of Woman" by Barbara Mouser, and taught by Helga Gross at the Hudson Community Chapel. While this summary is my own, the entire study was developed by Mrs. Mouser, and can be purchased through the International Council for Gender Studies website.

Five Aspects of Woman

Five Aspects of Woman Series ~ Post #1

About ten years ago, I took a life-changing ladies' Bible study at our church called "Five Aspects of Woman". It is a study of the nature of femininity from a Biblical perspective. The study was written by Barbara Mouser, who with her husband, William Mouser, founded the International Council of Gender Studies in 1991. Here is an excerpt from their website that tells what they are about:

"The International Council for Gender Studies (ICGS) is formed of evangelical Christians in America and Europe who are committed to speaking the historic Christian faith to this generation. We think that non-biblical egalitarian tenets about the nature and relationship of men and women are not only corrosive to society at large, but also pose a threat to the spiritual vitality and integrity of the Church. Persuaded that God has spoken through the Prophets and Apostles in the Bible concerning human sexuality, we have joined together to call Christians to reaffirm and to live anew the whole counsel of God as He has spoken concerning gender issues."

I say this study was "life-changing" for me not because I have ever had any doubts or conflicts with my gender or feminine attributes, but because I had never studied the Bible with an eye to view myself as a unique female creation and had never given much thought as to how God's design for woman went any further than what I had always been taught: woman was created from the side of the man to be his helpmate; women are to be in subjection to their own husbands; older women in the faith are to teach the younger women, and so forth.

Our culture today does not hold women in the high esteem that God their Creator does. Women who voluntarily and lovingly place themselves under the headship of their husbands are seen as old-fashioned. Those who cultivate a "quiet and gentle spirit" are urged to take an "assertiveness training" course. Mothers who sacrifice financially to stay home and feather a nest for their families are considered to have wasted their education. On it goes.

A little bit about me:

By the time I took this course, I had been a full time stay-at-home mom for about seven years. Before that I worked outside the home, first full-time, and then on a part-time basis. While I can never reclaim the time I missed when my sons were younger and I was working, I am so grateful that I was able to be home full-time throughout their entire teenage years and to this day. But except for my husband's constant encouragement, I never felt the permission or the empowerment to fully be comfortable in my role. I knew that my focus was right and good, and believed in my heart that it was God-pleasing. Still, there always seemed to be a nagging feeling that my love of and contentment with being wife, mom, and homemaker made me something just a little bit "less" than others who chose to continue their education or remain in the workplace while raising their families.

This study helped me realize there is so much more God wanted me to understand. The forming of the woman was the last of God's creative acts, and I like to say, His "crown jewel"! When He finished with all He had made, He pronounced them "very good". By the time I finished this study, I not only felt "permission" to be all that I was called to be, but I felt "commissioned" to teach the study myself, which I will tell about at the end of this series. It was perhaps a once-a-lifetime experience with an eternal impact.

So...I am going to post a short series here on each of the five aspects that Barbara Mouser has identified. They are:

1) Mistress of the Domain

2) Helper-Completer

3) Life-giver

4) Lady of Wisdom

5) Glory of Man

In the course, as Mrs. Mouser states on the website, "Each aspect is studied as it was created to be, as it is marred by sin, as it is redeemed in Christ, and as it applies to life now."

I invite readers to share your stories or insights as we go along, aspect by aspect. Either post as comment, as lengthy as you like, or if you prefer to email me, I will respond as soon as possible. If only one woman out there gains a tiny affirmation of any aspect of her Biblical femininity, I will be so blessed!