RISE UP, AUTHENTIC WOMAN
By AkuBai (Gospel Artist)
Joyce Meyer is an American Bible teacher, author, and speaker whose work I admire greatly. She has always been unafraid to share her personal failures including her journey to becoming a better person; things that make her an authentic and relatable person with very practicable teachings.
Her story is the picture of a woman who rises from the hurt and blemishes of sexual abuse, domestic violence, divorce, and remarriage to become an inspiration to millions of other women, and even men.
When she talks about her past, there are no undertones of anger, bitterness, or vindictiveness. She exudes a positivity that is only possible for someone who has learned to heal from the mistakes and wounds of the past and to enthusiastically embrace her purpose.
Meyer is certainly not without flaws—after all, she’s human—but it’s her vulnerability and authenticity that I want to highlight in order to make applications for today’s Christian woman. I will also draw inspiration from women in the Bible to help us, today’s women, enjoy our lives while we positively impact our communities.
Being authentic is something that is fast disappearing in today’s social media age. Instead, acting phony to make an impression and attract attention has become a plague among women, even Christian women. With the invention of the selfie, we do almost everything for the camera. Our meticulously edited social media lives are so far from authentic that it would shock us to know that many smiling faces on our feeds are masks for broken lives behind the keyboards. Vulnerability is something these faces would not associate with, as though being authentic would diminish who they already are.
I believe that for a woman to realize her potential and become the blessing that God wants for her, she must take off her mask, look herself in the mirror, embrace her strengths, identify and accept her flaws, and then pursue a better version of herself.
Permit me to draw inspiration from women in the Bible to illustrate my point. The lives of these women give us a picture of what spirit-filled womanhood should look like.
MARY MAGDALENE
She embodies a woman who walks away from a horrible past to womanhood of virtue. Together with Rahab the prostitute, she is that kind of woman whose past should normally tie her down in regret and shame. But it doesn’t. Instead, she becomes one of the prominent women in Jesus’s circle of helping companions.
Take away: Your past can only hold you back if you allow it.
RUTH
A picture of pure selflessness. Few Christian women today are selfless. For the majority, their boyfriends, fiancés, husbands, parents, neighbors etc. are being dished a never-ending dose of self-centeredness. These are the #Me_Myself_and_I generation.
Have you ever wondered why there’s such little godly character around when thousands of women swarm church gatherings and prayer meetings?
DEBORAH
Deborah is not today’s regular woman; she was patriotic and had authority. She was a dominant personality and was influential as a prophetess and a judge in her time. Deborah was so revered that Israeli army general Barak would not go to war without her. Yet, she was a wife.
A woman can be confident, patriotic, yet submissive to her husband all at once. Careers should not stand in the way of marriage. A more recent example of sorts is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, newly elected WTO leader.
MARY, THE MOTHER OF OUR LORD
Purity and devotion are her keywords. Christendom and the world owe it to this young woman’s virginity for the first coming of the Messiah.
Authentic godly womanhood entails a life of sexual morality and devotion to the Lord. It is a life that is willing to be used by God, even when misunderstanding from society is inevitable.
JOCHEBED
The mother of Moses, she was the reason Moses stuck to his Hebrew roots and beliefs despite growing up in the court of Pharaoh as his adopted grandson.
She symbolizes mothers who labor to teach their children the ways of the Lord so they will not depart from them in their adulthood.
SARAH
In today’s society, Sarah would have stirred up trouble when she called Abraham her lord. But the Bible commends her and lifts her up as a role model for other women. An attitude of submissiveness honors a woman; it doesn’t degrade her. Domestic abuse aside, a submissive woman is a jewel on her husband’s crown.
DORCAS
If you died today, would someone miss you? Or would they rejoice and say good riddance? Dorcas was a wealthy woman but full of kindness towards the poor so much so that when she died, the beneficiaries of her generosity went looking for the Apostle Peter to come to raise her from the dead.
Abigail, Priscilla, Anna, Huldah, Rebekah are more examples of virtuous and authentic bible women I could discuss but I think you get my point.
Therefore, as we celebrate Women’s Day, my call to women is to rise up and take charge of our families and our communities.
Whatever our past, we can stand up and embrace God’s purpose for us to impact our families and communities for good. We can go beyond being attention-seeking selfie addicts. We can go beyond always looking to settle scores. We can change our stories into testimonies.
Let us be authentic so that the world can find in us something to inspire them to become better.
God bless you,
AkuBai
About AkuBai
AkuBai is an award-winning gospel artist with the vision of impacting humanity and touching souls through music. She is an ordained minister of the gospel and leads Impact Makers for Humanity, an organization that builds competencies for sustainable development and extends compassionate support to vulnerable communities. She currently resides in Cameroon’s capital city Yaoundé. Visit www.akubai.com to learn more and search “AkuBai Quotes” on YouTube to watch her weekly motivational video series.
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