Biblical Womanhood And The Media

I’m going to throwback to 2001 when Destiny’s child had just come out with the song: “Independent Woman,” and we were all singing it word for word, having the time of our lives to lyrics like:

“Question, tell me what you think about me?

I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings

Only ring your celly when I’m feeling lonely

When it’s all over please get up and leave

Question, tell me how you feel about this?

Try to control me boy, you get dismissed

Pay my own fun, oh and I pay my own bills

Always 50/50 in relationships”

These types of songs are the soundtracks of my youth, and I’m sure it’s the same for many other women. Even with the changing of times, the media have portrayed and taught woman to be independent, to be sexy, sexual, not to need a man for anything, and I’m not saying independence is wrong, but the Question is: who does the Bible say I am as a woman?

To be a woman, whether wife, sister or mother, the Bible has called us to be joint heirs with our male counterparts, though there is a lot of instruction on how a wife must be to her husband as this is evidenced by the Scriptures. In 1Peter3:1, ESV it sates: “Likewise wives, be subject to your own husbands.” In Colossians 3:18, KJV it states: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.” And lastly, in Ephesians 5:22, KJV it says, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord”, even single woman needs to be subject unto the Lord Jesus Christ. The truth is submission does not happen automatically when you get married. Before marriage all women need to learn to submit unto the Lord, respecting His direction and leading.

Being subject unto the Lord means walking under the submission of Christ and His word, walking in holiness, walking with the fear of the sovereign God, respecting the body God has given you as it is the temple of the Lord, and refraining from fornication or anything that defiles the flesh. Society has normalised sex before marriage, single mothers, revealing clothing, being provocative, and music videos with nudity and very aggressive content, but the truth is all of that is in conflict with the word of God. But remember also that God is the God of forgiveness, so if you have allowed society to convince you to live a life in conflict to God’s word, you can’t be made whole.

There is no particular scripture that speaks against mainstream media, but the media does set the tone on how we think and what we believe to be true. If you are told over and over that this is what a woman is by the media, you begin to believe it, just as the Bible says faith comes by hearing. So, the more you hear a message that conflicts with the Word of God the more you are inclined to believe it.

Ultimately the Question is, who does the bible say I am as a woman? The long and short of it is that women are to be subject unto God, completely yielded unto the Lord, living a holy and virtuous life, continuously bringing Glory to Him. Colossians 3:17, NKJV says, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

So, the next time you wonder who you are as a woman Biblically, think of it like this: do my actions, words, life, dress code and nature, how I treat people, does it bring Glory to God?  And if the answer is yes. Then you are the woman God created you to be even if it’s in conflict with society and mainstream media.