As women in Christ, God has set forth plentiful opportunities to minister for his glory. But like Eve in the garden, we can sometimes fixate on what God has forbidden. Slowly, the garden grows dimmer, and the goodness and beauty of God’s design become clouded in our eyes. And still Satan repeats his age-old question: “Did God really say . . . ?”
What if we endeavored to swap Satan’s seduction song for this holy anthem: How may I serve God in ways that make him happy while deepening my joy?
Even in an age where discontentment is often championed and sly rebellion normalized, Christian women can revel in God’s appointed design. When we serve our church with a heart aimed toward biblical fidelity, God will receive glory, and the bride of Christ will glow.
As Oswald Chambers said, “Get into the habit of saying ‘Speak, Lord,’ and life will become a romance.”
God speaks through the Bible, and a woman with a humble disposition, asking, “Speak, Lord,” will live to employ God’s design. No longer entangled by worldly passions, she is free to rise and do good in her church.
The romance? Savoring the magnificent, lifelong dance of serving Christ and bolstering his church as a helper, spiritual mother, and teacher.
Helpers of Abundant Ministry
When God the potter formed Eve from Adam’s side, he created a precious and essential gift for man: “a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18).
The Hebrew word for “fit” — kenegdo — literally means “according to the opposite of him.” Men and women are equally beloved by God as his image-bearers, yet God created us with distinct, interdependent callings. We are interlocking puzzle pieces that connect to form an exquisite mural that honors Christ.
What a sacred privilege to be a woman, made to bear the image of God, who is our greatest helper (Psalm 115:9–11). The word “helper” applies most directly to wives, but this calling also gives us a clue as to how God created women to function in the church. Regardless of our age or marital status, we have been chosen by God to come alongside and assist the church beneath the oversight of elders.
The opportunities to minister are like the fruit in Eden’s garden: abundant, ripe, and ours to enjoy. Rather than wasting time reaching for the branch reserved for men (1 Timothy 2:12), as many have previously done, let us seek to pluck sanctioned fruit, serving our Lord in the many realms he has appointed: women’s ministry, hospitality, food preparation, administration, facility upkeep, nursery, children’s ministry, prayer ministry, community outreach, music, missions, and more.
Spiritual Mothers of Many
Biblical womanhood produces a nurturing, compassionate, maternal ministry. As women, we are meant to breathe life and hope into people. Just as a mother displays tenderness toward her children, we have an opportunity to demonstrate nurturing compassion in our local churches.
Such gentleness exudes warmth: a hand resting on a slumped shoulder; a heartfelt welcome that floods the sanctuary; lips offering compassionate wisdom, tenderness, and prayer in times of suffering and confusion. Embedded within our sanctified XX chromosomes is a sensitivity to the neglected, the hurting, and the outcasts, a touchpoint to share the good news of our Redeemer.
A spiritual mother is eager and grateful to be shepherded by her church’s elders. Rather than seeking to push her personal agenda, she happily serves alongside, strengthening God’s people through loving kindness. Spiritual mothering exudes,
“I see you. I am praying for you.”
“You are not alone.”
“Let me show you the wisdom of God’s ways displayed in his word.”
In Titus 2:3–5, Paul adjures older women to train younger women, tutoring them to honor God as wives, mothers, and stewards of their homes so that Scripture might not be scorned. This same passage implies that younger women show wisdom by following instruction with a spirit of humility.
This type of training grows women of godly character, yielding a vibrant congregation. Mature women of faith are God’s chosen instruments to develop women of spiritual depth who in turn bolster God’s kingdom here on earth. By their modeling and nurturing, spiritual mothers are invaluable to the heart of the church.
Teachers of Sincere Faith
God has given some women the ability to teach the Bible. The wise woman able to instruct will fear God’s word and hold fast to the divine, unchanging order of creation, stewarding her ability by teaching children and other women in the church (1 Timothy 2:12–14).
What a joy and high calling to plant seeds of truth in young minds. Those patient, kind words, unapologetically spoken with respect and authenticity, cradled in love, will bear fruit for eternity.
Many Christian missionaries, pastors, theologians, schoolteachers, stay-at-home mothers, blue-collar workers, and businesspeople speak highly of their childhood Sunday school teachers, attributing their vibrant faith to the women who taught them the Bible each Sunday morning long ago. Likewise, when the apostle Paul praised Timothy’s sincere faith, he credited Timothy’s mother and grandmother for instilling truth into this young protégé (2 Timothy 1:5).
The ability and opportunity to teach women sound doctrine is also a grace and privilege. Through Bible studies, conferences, or retreats, women able to teach labor for the Great Commission. God’s word never returns void (Isaiah 55:10–11). How beautiful is the generational ripple effect of teaching other women to treasure God and his word!
Pillars of Beauty and Strength
Some of the sweetest words in Scripture are those spoken by Mary, the mother of Jesus. When Gabriel appears and announces that she, an unwed virgin, is favored by God to conceive and birth Jesus, Mary could have protested. Her response? “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” — a heart posture submissive and strong, gentle and resilient (Luke 1:38).
When God searches your soul and mine, will he discover a spirit of conflict, tempted to defy his word by following our own desires? Or will he behold a lovely spirit of one fully devoted — “let it be to me according to your word” — yielded to that which is good, true, and beautiful in his sight?
May we follow in Mary’s footsteps as “corner pillars,” adorned with beauty and strength, fit for God’s palace (Psalm 144:12). May we labor to fortify the bride of Christ rather than squander what God has provided. May we lead well, in all humility, as servants eager to give our lives away, as Jesus did. We are not men but women, called to rise and serve the church with tender hearts and sturdy, outstretched hands.
Desiring God