About the appearance of a Christian woman
About the appearance of a Christian woman
Good afternoon, our dear visitors!
How can a Christian woman survive in the modern world? How to choose the right wardrobe for yourself so that it befits a Christian lifestyle? And what should an Orthodox woman look like?
Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin) answers this question:
“St. John Chrysostom praised his spiritual daughter Olympias for the fact that she dresses neither luxuriously nor poorly, but in such a way that her clothes do not stand out from her environment. Of course, clothing at the service should also be decent for a Christian woman. In general, we should try not to aggravate the situation if there are no obvious moral reasons for this.
Try to pray fervently that the Lord will enlighten you on what to do in each specific situation. If possible, consult with your confessor, husband, or someone whose opinion you value.
In spiritual life there are no small things at all: both good and evil begin small. Therefore, in the Bible the devil is called “moralistic,” that is, sin, which at first seems insignificant, like an ant, to which you should not pay attention, gradually growing in a person’s soul, turns out to be a lion.
The great teacher of asceticism, Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov, in his book “An Offering to Modern Monasticism,” began teaching monks with their appearance and temple discipline, which prepare a person for vigil over his heart and spiritual achievement.
The revolution in morality caused a revolution in clothing. New mods have appeared. If for Christians one of the purposes of clothing is to protect themselves and others from temptation, then new fashions predominantly have the opposite goal: to draw attention to the human body and evoke a feeling of lust.
Those who walk half naked and claim that they do not feel passion are lying to themselves. They are like a drunk who claims that he is sober - it is the earth that shakes under his feet. When shame is dulled, grace departs, passion becomes a permanent state of a person, and he no longer sees it, just as a fish does not see the water in which it swims.
The headscarf, in the Holy Scriptures, is a sign of family hierarchy, that is, the subordination of a wife to her husband. Therefore, a woman without a headdress, as it were, emphasizes her false independence, that is, she shows spiritual pride. The Apostle calls on women to wear a veil “for the sake of the Angel,” that is, so as not to upset their Guardian Angel by unchaste behavior when a woman can serve as an object of temptation.
In the ancient world, a woman’s headscarf was considered to belong to the free class, and a slave did not have the right to wear a headscarf. The harlot not only did not dare to wear a headscarf, but had to cut the hair on her head so that her occupation could be seen. In the east, a headscarf was considered a symbol of a woman’s dignity and evoked a feeling of respect. Tearing a scarf from a woman's head was considered an insult to her entire family name. Even during a fight between men, if a woman threw her scarf in the middle of the fighters, they were obliged to disperse. In this case, stepping on a handkerchief was considered dishonorable for the man himself.
Tradition in most cases is the crystallization of spiritual and moral concepts, as well as everyday experience and their transmission from generation to generation. Therefore, every tradition carries information. By breaking traditions, we lose the information embedded in it.”
What should a girl, a woman be like according to the Bible?
Lately, many people have been focusing on how a girl or woman should look, how she should dress, talk, behave, and very often we sometimes put emphasis on appearance, without noticing the inner beauty.
Today I would like to raise the following questions: What should a girl and a woman be like according to the Bible? Should we focus our attention only on external beauty? What does God say about this? Is the inner beauty of every girl and woman valued in our world?
And so, as I have already said, many people focus their attention on external beauty, I would like to focus on internal beauty.
I will name those qualities that determine the inner beauty of every girl and woman:
1. Fear the Lord - that is, every girl, woman should have the fear of God, that is, if she has the fear of the Lord, she will hate evil, will not be proud, will not be arrogant, and deceit will not come out of her mouth. (Prov. 31:10-30)
2. Chaste - that is, she preserves herself until marriage and in marriage, be faithful to her husband. That is, every girl who has not yet gotten married must keep herself pure and pure, and a woman who already has a husband must not cheat on him, but lead her life purely and immaculately. (Titus 2:3-5)
3. Honest - that is, every girl, woman should be honest, first of all, with herself, this is very valuable. I would also include integrity and loyalty, oddly enough, but in our time unmarried girls must be principled, that is, be able to say “yes” and “no” when necessary, and it is very important to be faithful in everything, as before marriage , so in marriage. (1 Tim. 2:11)
4. Not a slanderer - that is, do not tell lies that discredit the honor and dignity of other people. Be honest and tell the truth. (1 Tim. 2:11)
5. Reasonable - that is, approach any situation with wisdom. ( Prov. 19:14)
6. Hardworking - that is, one who does not waste her time, but is ready to give her time and energy to something useful that will benefit her and those around her. (Prov. 11:16)
7. Respect and obedience to God, parents, husband - that is, every girl and woman should have respect for their parents, no matter how old they are, and most importantly, they should have respect for God. For example, when a girl has a husband, she must also honor and obey him, that is, show due favor, remembering that the Lord stands over her husband. A great example for us is Sarah, who was submissive and obedient to her husband (Abraham), she even called him lord. (Eph. 5:22, Col. 3:18, 1 Cor. 7:3, 1 Tim. 2:11-15, 1 Pet. 3:6)
8. Be able to remain silent - many girls and women like to talk a lot and sometimes this leads to bad things. That's why sometimes you just need to be silent, knowing when to speak and when to keep your mouth shut. (1 Cor. 14:34-35, 1 Pet. 3:3-6)
There are many other qualities, but I focused my attention on the most common ones.
The Bible says:
Let your adornment be not the external braiding of your hair, not gold jewelry or finery in clothing, but the innermost person of the heart in the imperishable beauty of a meek and silent spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. (1 Pet. 3:3-4)
We should not only think about how to decorate ourselves externally, we must not forget to decorate ourselves internally, because internal beauty is valued much more than external beauty. We must not forget that by decorating ourselves internally, God greatly appreciates this.
In our world, no matter how it is, the most valuable thing is inner beauty. Time passes and our external beauty deteriorates, but what is inside remains forever and has no price.
I think that this article will be useful not only for believing girls and women, but also for non-believers.
We very often focus our attention on appearance, and this very often happens in churches, forgetting that the Lord teaches us to dress internally, we rush to judge someone for their clothes, not paying attention to what our actions are, what our heart is, and How are we even dressed internally?!
Therefore, in conclusion, I will say, decorate yourself with what cannot be worn out in a year, that cannot become small or tear, decorate yourself with what remains eternal!
The Christian Woman's Code: A Biblical View.
About the imaginary equality between women and men.
Study of Scripture.
(1 Pet. 3:1-7)
An amazing paradox: women of the current generation, who fight for equality with men, having won another victory, quite often find themselves losing!
Men and women are never “equal.” No one will deny: women give birth to children, and men fight. In the name of equality, we can send women to fight, but men will never bear children. Natural and social differences do not always work in favor of only men or only women. For example, either due to higher psychological stress, or due to weaker physiology, men tend to die at a younger age than women. Society and nature impose different responsibilities on men and women, and not to the same extent. It is foolish to base the “war of the sexes” on these differences.
Neither legislation nor public consciousness can remove the burden of male responsibilities from men, and female ones from women. Both have their own role in relationships with each other and with the outside world. These emotional and physiological characteristics of each other must be recognized and respected, and this is precisely the path that Peter encourages his readers to follow.
THE INNER BEAUTY OF A MEEK AND SILENT SPIRIT (3:1-4)
Peter first addresses women (3:1-6) and then, in 3:7, men. The inequality of length between the two passages is obvious, but on the basis of this inequality it is not so easy to decide who is given greater preference. If we view God's instructions as restrictive and burdensome, we are likely to conclude that Peter's remarks are biased and play into the hands of men. On the other hand, if we accept these writings as divine counsel communicated through the Holy Spirit for the benefit of those to whom it is addressed, we can conclude that Peter favors women. His instructions to women can be divided into four topics.
Obedience
At the very beginning, Peter says, “In the same way, you wives, be subject to your own husbands...” (3:1). Peter had earlier called on these Christians to be submissive to the authority of men (2:13) and for servants to be submissive to their masters (2:18). The phrase “you also” draws our attention to the fact that the thought begun in the previous verses is further developed in the instruction to wives. Obedience is a part of life. If any action requires the efforts of a group of people, then one of them must lead. The leader may not be the best of all, but it would be better if they were not the most ideal person than to remain completely without leadership.
Without submission there would be no power. Peter's words suggest that the wife, in general, had a choice whether to obey or not. I know some families where wives did not have this choice. They either obeyed their husbands or went with them to court. Blessed is the husband whose wife willingly submits to him. When Peter told wives, “Submit,” he meant, “Let your husbands be leaders in your families.” It is difficult for a Christian to become the head of a family if his wife has decided that this will never happen.
To submit—whether to governments, masters, or husbands—is to accept the role assigned to you in the existing order of things. This has nothing to do with assessing a person's inner qualities, intelligence or abilities. Peter says that a wife must submit to her husband. From the context it is clear that the husband is not a Christian. Just as the good works and submission of Christians will cause the pagans to glorify God (2:12) and the ignorant to be silent (2:15), so the submission of wives is of great importance in winning husbands to Christ. It appears that among Peter's readers, as well as in our society, women were more willing to accept God's words of love and grace than men. No doubt many men will be rewarded with eternal life in heaven because they have seen the fruits of a Christian life in the submissive behavior of their wives.
Purity
Verse 3:2 speaks about the influence of wives on their husbands: “When they see your pure, God-fearing life.” Peter explains how women should live. “Pure living” is living without any hint of immodest or indecent behavior. This may be too demanding, but men want their beloved women to stand at an unimaginable height of perfection. They want to see virtue and purity personified in their wives, mothers and sisters. You can, if you want, call it male chauvinism, but the fact remains: men respect the woman who gives her love and intimacy only to the man with whom she has connected her life.
Several years ago, Allan Bloom, a professor at the University of Chicago, expressed one very profound thought in his bestseller:
“It’s strange that the most boring and stupid platitude that mothers and fathers told their daughters - “He won’t respect you or marry you if you give him what he wants too easily” - most accurately and deeply describes the current situation "
One can still argue about whether this instruction was the most “boring and stupid” one. What is interesting about the above statement is the realization that women are at a loss if they reject “pure living.” A wife's pure and impeccable life will only earn her husband's respect and admiration.
God-fearing
A wife's fearing of God can also lead an unbelieving husband to Christ. Fear of God, or the fear of God, is that feeling of reverent fear and submission with which we approach God. The Modern Translation translates this word “reverence.” Respect is a character trait that a wife cannot arbitrarily turn on and off. If she can still hang kindness, diligence and consideration in the closet along with her formal clothes until next Sunday, then with respect it will not work out that way. The fear of God will manifest itself in the manner of speaking, piety, prayerfulness, and Christian charity, which distinguish a wife not only in public, but also at home.
Interior decoration
Peter did not mean to say that women should never comb their hair or wear jewelry when he wrote: “Let not your outward adornment be the braiding of your hair, or wearing gold ornaments, or being smart in your clothing” (3:3). He urges women not to get carried away with this to the detriment of the main thing. A woman is always expected to be neat and attractive, but to exchange the “imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” for clothes, jewelry and “braided hair” would be spiritual suicide. The way a wife attracts her husband tells him a lot. If her attractiveness is purely physical, then it is unlikely that she will be able to turn her husband’s heart to the Lord. Only her Christ-like character, her meek and calm disposition, her reverence and purity will have an unceasing influence on him.
We must understand that Peter does not place the responsibility for the husband's obedience to Christ on the wife's shoulders. Some men are so vicious, and others are so indifferent, that no amount of effort from their wives will change them. Peter is not saying that wives are responsible for their husbands. He says that a conscientious and pious wife will want her husband to share her faith and hope. It is in this regard that he conducts his instructions.
Peter calls women to exceptional sanity, patience and virtue. Peter is not alone in his high appreciation of the prudence, common sense and insight of a wise wife, who serves as a support to her husband. Alexander Pop wrote:
“She will not contradict her husband when he is irritated,
And, controlling him, he will show as if he is in charge.
Charms with good disposition, seduces with meekness,
She’s always sweet, obedient, and always cheerful.”
Probably the poet reasoned in the same way as Peter.
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The woman is a Christian
When you start a conversation about a woman, you invariably find yourself faced with a serious contradiction. On the one hand, our society thinks and acts like men, oppressing women and alienating them in every possible way. Of course, such an attitude leads to extreme dissatisfaction among women, up to and including their participation in revolutionary and feminist movements.
On the other hand, a woman has been glorified much more than a man in the history of the world: she is the heroine of many thousands of works of art - prose, poetry, songs, music, paintings and sculptures... And when the maternal role of a woman is spoken of, exaltation and idealization reach their apogee . For example, we have all read or heard various literary works about the mother and her role in the formation of the human soul.
And today we, as members of society and members of the Church, are called upon not only to reconcile different points of view on the role of women in the world, but also to understand what the reasons for this contradiction are, and also, as far as possible, to eliminate it. At the end of our conversation, it will become clear that a possible reason why men reject, oppress, or do not take a woman into account may be her strength , which often amazes and even horrifies the “strong half” of humanity!
So today we will talk about some aspects of this special power of a woman. And yet, along with this, we will also have to find and analyze some feminine traits, because of which, perhaps, women are called the “weaker sex.” Of course, we will not do this to accuse the woman, but in order to help her find her own strength and use it for the benefit of her family and for her own benefit.
There are many positive female qualities that can be identified, but perhaps the most characteristic are the following:
1. rich emotional world,
2. great endurance,
3. strong faith in God.
Let's look at all these traits and qualities in order.
1. A woman is by nature more emotional and sensitive than a man.
She has the ability to support her family emotionally, and the man - with the help of logic. However, one should not make absolutes and claim that this happens always and everywhere. There are different families, but most often the woman is the “heart” of the family, and the man is its “brain”.
When we talk about feelings and emotions, we mean the feeling of love, tenderness, kindness, the ability to feel what another feels, to take his place. The last quality is inherent in a woman by nature itself, because it develops especially strongly during pregnancy.
Many writers, psychologists and psychoanalysts describe pregnancy as a state in which a woman, for the first time, learns with particular intensity to imagine herself in the place of another person. She begins to somehow identify herself with the child and feel his desires and needs, and often does not even understand exactly how she does this.
A woman gradually becomes better able to grasp the feelings of another person and coordinate her emotions and actions with them, and this would be the most wonderful and happiest use by a woman of her emotional world. A home in which a woman constantly gives love, tenderness and understanding to everyone would be truly ideal.
Meanwhile, we all know how difficult it is to implement this in practice. Indeed, in addition to the above feelings and emotions, women enter into the spiritual world - or better yet, invade - completely different emotions. It is necessary to understand that the emotional world of the soul is not divided.
If it is especially developed, this means that a person has a tendency to a wide variety of feelings and emotions - both pleasant and useful, and those that lead to the emergence of passions.
Thus, in addition to such wonderful qualities as love, tenderness, caring and understanding, a woman who has greater emotional strength than a man may be much more prone to various unpleasant, bad feelings and qualities. If a woman hates, or envies, or is jealous, all this manifests itself more intensely and deeply in her than in a man.
Of all the negative emotions, let's choose two, the manifestation of which is very common in families: jealousy and rancor.
Women's jealousy often has as its root cause the very attitude towards a woman that was mentioned above. Most girls grow up from a very early age with a feeling of some inferiority compared to boys.
Willingly or unwittingly, girls are taught in their upbringing and education that they “lack something” – something that boys have. When a girl grows up and begins to live a full, active life, this feeling of inferiority can manifest itself, in particular, in the form of envy or jealousy - both towards men and towards other women!
The most striking manifestation of jealousy is jealousy in love relationships. This is a terrible, literally burning from the inside feeling of insecurity that a woman feels when she realizes that the first place in her husband’s heart is occupied by another.
Another very common manifestation of jealousy is jealousy of the mother-in-law. A woman often feels when her husband is dependent on his mother that the battle will be unequal. And this jealousy “eats” a woman’s soul, her emotional world and affects the manifestation of good emotions: she is no longer able to love, cannot show her tenderness and all her inner potential.
The second feeling that threatens the correct development and expression of the emotional world of women is rancor - a passion that, according to the Holy Fathers of the Church, is the most difficult to fight, since it is one of the most elusive and powerful passions in fallen human nature. Grudge is not just that I vividly remember the evil that someone else did to me, how he offended or hurt me, not only that I begin to constantly replay what happened in my mind. Not even in the desire to take revenge on the offender. All this is the “tip of the iceberg” of rancor. But we are all susceptible to rancor, even when we don’t realize it.
We may not constantly replay in our minds and remember an insult inflicted on us, or a harsh word spoken to us, or bad deeds committed by another person towards us. At least we don't feel like our thoughts are always preoccupied with what happened. And we cannot take the necessary measures to eradicate this feeling from our soul.
How, then, does this kind of rancor manifest itself in female spouses? A woman’s psyche does not open up in a marital relationship, but, on the contrary, hides, “folds up and is put away in a distant drawer.” The woman-wife is becoming increasingly weaker mentally, because of all the bad things that have happened and are happening to her, she is less and less interested in her own spiritual world and her own personality, she becomes unable to love and respond to love.
For the sake of fairness, it should be noted how often we men give women reasons for resentment towards us. Very often, much more often than we think. Often we don’t even notice these reasons.
Rancor as an emotion arises gradually, intensifies and develops into passion in a woman’s soul, if we follow church terminology, and as a result becomes dynamite for the relationship of a married couple.
One of the feminine qualities that often leads a woman to be vindictive is that it is difficult for her to communicate directly.
A man is characterized by greater directness in communication, while a woman more often takes roundabout, roundabout paths. Neither the first nor the second quality can be defined as “good” or “bad”.
Many men, in their directness, are rude and harsh, and behave harshly towards other people. And women who are accustomed to communicating indirectly often keep within themselves for many years what brought them pain, and cannot, when the anger passes, directly tell their husband: “So-and-so upset me, hurt me. Let's make sure this doesn't happen again in the future?
Due to "circumstantial communication" or communication by hints, a lot of emotional stress accumulates in the woman, and in the end she "sends the bill" to her husband. How exactly this is done depends on the characters of both spouses.
This could be a sudden outburst of anger and rage, or problems in the partners’ sex life, or some psychosomatic symptom, and often the children “pay the bill.”
So, jealousy and rancor pose the main threat to a woman’s rich emotional world, which is most susceptible to these feelings, due to which she becomes unable to show herself in true feminine greatness.
2. The second positive female quality that gives a woman a serious advantage is her great endurance . Endurance at different levels. When we men, for example, have a temperature of 38o C, we become ruins. We can’t go to work, we can’t do anything around the house, we can’t look after the children. And you work at this temperature – and even higher – both at home and outside the home. You carry a lot on your feet.
But today we will touch only on female psychological endurance and look at it from only one perspective: a woman has a maternal sense of responsibility and takes on all the burdens of raising children. Often (one might even say, as a rule) it is the wife who wakes up at night and takes care of the baby, while we men sometimes say in the morning: “How well the baby slept today!”
“It was you who slept well today, not the baby,” the wife replies. A woman feels responsible for everything that has to do with children - for their sleep, food, health, mood, and even taking care of homework, communicating with teachers and organizing leisure time.
Here I would like to draw the attention of women to what I have observed more than once as a priest and psychologist in a variety of families (including so-called church-going families).
A woman's wonderful, kind, holy intention to take responsibility for raising children leads to an extreme: a woman monopolizes her rights to children , or, no matter how harsh these words may seem, tears them away from her husband and their father .
Firstly, this process never happens suddenly. Everything is done gradually, slowly, and sometimes even the woman herself does not realize that she is doing it.
Secondly, this process never happens without a reason. Sometimes even a woman makes, at first glance, very convincing arguments. For example, a mother goes to church, confesses, receives communion, listens to sermons, but the father is not a church-going person, far from the life of the Church. And the mother says: “He can harm the children.”
Another argument: “I can communicate, find compromises and maneuver. And my husband often acts hastily and abruptly.” In other words, there is always a reason.
As a result, the mother, encouraged by a sense of her own endurance, a real desire to bring as much as possible to the task of raising children, and also by all that she hears and reads about the role of the mother, gradually takes full responsibility for the children over the years and keeps the father away from them.
There often comes a time when a mother begins to blame her husband for withdrawing from the children, while she herself, directly or indirectly, did not allow him to take care of them. However, let's be fair and note that all this happens not only through the fault of the woman. We men very often find ourselves quite indifferent to our role as fathers, we are not eager to take care of our children, and we do not know how to do this.
Another way in which a woman falls into the trap of her endurance and desire to take on responsibility for the family is that, as soon as she becomes a mother, she almost immediately forgets that, first of all, she is a spouse!
Men are also susceptible to this, but to a much lesser extent. And so marriage is abandoned for the sake of childbearing. But a woman should not forget that a new quality, the role of a mother, comes from the first, the role of a wife. And that it is to her marriage and her husband that she owes the fact that she has children. This means that new responsibility cannot in any way mean negligence in relation to previous responsibilities.
3. Finally, the third remarkable feminine quality, which so greatly contributes to the flowering of a woman's true greatness, is her deep faith in God .
Our churches are filled with women, in works of mercy the Church largely relies on women, the first people who learned about the Resurrection of the Savior were women, and, in general, the seed of Christian education enters the human soul from the mother. We owe everything to a woman’s faith and religiosity.
A woman is truly capable of believing in God more than a man, because, if you like, she has less egoism, or this egoism is of a completely different kind. Male egoism and logic often prevent men from turning to God and trusting Him. And it is easier for a woman to accept God in her heart.
But even in this wonderful feminine quality, sometimes a “wormhole” appears, since it often happens that a woman, who regards her faith with incorrect premises, tries to put God between herself and her husband.
Usually this happens unconsciously, as a result of the upbringing once given to this woman in her family, if the girl grew up in an atmosphere of fear or disgust towards everything that concerns relationships with the opposite sex and sexuality.
Thus, this woman may develop either indifference to these topics, or disgust, or fear and stress. And, if she is a church member, this gives her a “wonderful”, “suitable” opportunity to hide her problem under arguments like “God wants/doesn’t want this”, “The Church says so”, “father blessed/didn’t bless”, etc.
It turns out that a woman drags God into her relationship with her husband, puts Him in the middle, and separates herself and her husband with the help of God. But the Lord wants the husband and wife to be like one person, one body and one soul. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why it is so difficult for men to come to Church. Women, often without understanding this, with their behavior and words create lies, slander God, the Church and priests.
An excerpt from the book “Joy and Creation” by the Greek priest Basil Fermos. The translation was made by nun Catherine.
source
What qualities should I look for in a Christian girl?
Answer
The Bible does not mention courtship as the type of relationship we see today. Instead, it talks about the principles of marriage. Courtship today is used as a way to evaluate whether a man and woman will be good partners in marriage. It follows that a Christian girl should be considered primarily as a potential marriage partner. A Christian man should be looking for a woman to spend his life with, not just someone to have fun with. If a man is not ready to marry, he should not seek the attention of a Christian girl.
When a young man is looking for a girlfriend, the most important quality she must have (as his potential future wife and someone who will be a major influence in his life) is salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ and a life of obedience to Him. In 2 Corinthians 6:14, the Apostle Paul tells us not to be “unequally yoked” with unbelievers. If a woman does not believe in Jesus, then it would be unwise for a Christian to consider her as his girlfriend and/or wife.
However, the fact that a woman is a Christian does not necessarily guarantee that she will be a perfect match for any Christian man. It is important to consider other aspects of being “yoked.” For example, similar spiritual goals, doctrinal beliefs, and outlooks on life are all extremely important. In addition, more practical things should be analyzed, such as energy levels, general interests, and expectations from family and lifestyle. Many men marry women based solely on emotional or physical attraction, and this can lead to disaster.
The Bible gives some guidelines regarding the qualities a man should look for in a Christian girl. A Christian woman exhibits a spirit of submission to the Lord. Paul encourages wives to submit to their husbands as to the Lord (Ephesians 5:22-24). If a wife cannot submit to God, she will likely see no point in submitting to her husband when that time comes. It is important to remember that submission is a spiritual quality, not a character trait. A pleasant personality is not necessarily the same as a submissive spirit, nor is an energetic or strong-willed personality the same as a willful spirit. A woman will be submissive to the extent that she is influenced by God's Spirit, and He will be influenced to the extent that she loves Him and spends time in His Word.
A Christian woman should help and bless her husband. She should be his helper, according to the biblical model established for Adam and Eve. She is a helper in his mission and calling. For example, if he is called to serve as a pastor or missionary, he should find a Christian girl who feels the same call. If he dreams of a big family, he needs to look for a woman who dreams of the same. But most of all, according to the call for us all to be ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), a man should choose a woman who will help him and not hinder him in this regard. She will demonstrate a dedication to prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:16), encouragement (1 Thessalonians 5:11), service to others (Hebrews 6:10), and the wisdom that comes from knowing the Word of God (Colossians 3:16). This is the kind of woman who will be truly useful to a Christian man.
