Lessons from 5 Rebel Girls of the Bible

Lessons from 5 Rebel Girls of the Bible

This blog post was originally featured on Rising Tswana.

 

Recently I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed when I came across a video from Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo (of Rebelgirls.co) called “If Cinderella were a Guy”. Through this video, they highlight the fact that women are impacted by misogyny as early as childhood for the following reasons:  

which then give way to confidence issues by the time most girls reach primary or elementary school- more so than boys. In answer to the question of why this is so, Favilli and Cavallo pose one of their own: 

“They say that ‘If you can see it, you can be it.’ But what happens if you never see someone like you making the headlines? What happens when all that you see around you is movies, cartoons, books and TV shows dominated by men?” 

To counteract this, they created a book called “Goodnight Stories of Rebel Girls”- a collection of: 

“100 stories of real women who have achieved incredible things, despite all odds [because] every girl… deserves to grow up thinking that she can be anything she wants.” 

When I saw this video it instantly resonated with me. This, I noted, is definitely a problem in the secular world but it is also a problem within the church. Christian women therefore not only have to navigate systemic sexism such as gender pay gaps, mansplaining and rape culture, they also have  the added baggage of the misogyny that occurs within church, which includes the:  

  • Exacerbation of the problem of limited female representation (in terms of how little we are spoken of generally and in what contexts we are spoken about when we are discussed, particularly where the matriarchs of the faith are concerned)
  • Objectification of women's bodies (either as weapons for "tempting godly men" or for the sole purpose of pleasuring our husbands and having their babies) 
  • Depreciation of women's roles and identity (hence the continued debates around female leadership and preachers, and the idea that being a wife and mother is the "ultimate stamp of womanhood")  

All of these issues were highlighted via this recent article. Issues which I am personally acquainted with and served as both the frustration and inspiration behind launching this website last year.  

This website has allowed me the pleasure of challenging these stereotypes by interviewing a diverse range of Christian women from all walks of life (globally). I also continue to achieve this by discussing the “rebel girls” of the Bible through my weekly devotionals- women who shift traditional paradigms surrounding (Christian) femininity, such as: 

Lessons from Wisdom on How to be a Helper

Lessons from Wisdom on How to be a Helper

To excerpt from my guidebook, The Ultimate Guide to Eve-

The Holy Spirit (like God) has many different names, each reflecting an aspect of His nature. For example, He is called “the Spirit of truth,” (John 16:13; John 14:17; John 15:26), “the eternal Spirit” (Hebrews 9:14) and much more. However when Jesus first announced His coming, He addressed Him as “another Helper” (John 14:26; John 14:16) and outlined His role, which is basically to dwell within those that accept Jesus so that they might:

This is why on announcing the arrival of the Holy Spirit Jesus told His disciples that, although God’s presence had dwelt with them through Him up to that point, He would soon be in them (John 14:17). Through this indwelling of the Holy Spirit God is still able to manifest His powers through those who believe in Jesus, just like when He was present on the earth in human form. It is in this way that we are able to abide in Jesus as He abides in the Father and vice versa (John 15:5).

It is interesting to note Jesus’ use of the word “another” before the title Helper as it suggests that there had been a different type of helper prior to Jesus’ announcement, and there was- in the person of Eve- particularly in her role of wife (Genesis 2:18-25). The word “helper” is used to describe Eve specifically in Genesis 2:18, which suggests that Eve’s role as helper (and that of subsequent females) is actually symbolic of the Holy Spirit’s relationship to those who have accepted Christ (especially as marriage is a symbol of Christ's relationship with the church).

Lessons from El Shaddai on How Women Physically Reflect the Image of God

Lessons from El Shaddai on How Women Physically Reflect the Image of God

Before I started studying Eve and other women of the Bible, one of the things that I was really interested in uncovering was any feminine representations of God. I think that this was because the fact that God is typically spoken about in masculine terms meant that:

  • I didn't quite understand how I could be totally "made in His image"
  • I didn't always see myself reflected or represented in God or His word
  • This made me question my worth, place and purpose (as a woman) within the Kingdom of God

Wanting to reconcile these issues for myself, and others within the Far Above Rubies Collective, I did a 2-part series on scriptures that talked about God in feminine terms a few months ago- most especially as mother (if you missed that you can read them here and here).

In today's devotional, we're going to be taking lessons from El Shaddai on how women reflect the image of God in their bodies.

Lessons from the Church on (Mutual) Submission

Lessons from the Church on (Mutual) Submission

Did you know that the church is a woman? Well, she is! As detailed in my guidebook, The Ultimate Guide to Eve, Jesus is referred to as “the bridegroom” many times in scripture (John 3:29; Mark 2:19-20). Marriage symbolism is also used in relation to Him on several occasions (John 14:1-3; Ephesians 5:25-27), including the analogy of the church as Christ’s “bride” (2nd Corinthians 11:2; Revelations 19:7-9). 

Most people tend to think of church as simply being a building in which people worship God. Whilst this is true, the fact remains that the church is not just simply made up of bricks and mortar, but the people that comprise His network of believers (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1st Peter 2:4-5). As such, Ephesians 5 verse 22 says:

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything...."

Verse 32 of that same chapter then goes on to clarify:

"This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church."

One of the definitions of submission is to:

Accept or yield to a superior force or to the authority or will of another person

Hence, in a nutshell, this is how I always heard submission taught growing up-

Men are "superior" to women/their wives because "woman came from man". As such, God made each man the "head of his household". Wives should therefore submit to their husbands (unquestioningly) because that is what men are entitled to and that's what a "good" or "godly" wife does.

That's all good and well in theory but what if the man is not subject to God and so is asking his wife to sin? What if the man is controlling, manipulative and/or abusive? What is the man is negligent of his responsibilities? What if the man stops the woman from walking in her God-given purpose? I saw many female relatives come under fierce attack for not submitting to their husbands, even under such circumstances. Yet the men were never held to the same standard or scrutiny. I know many others, women especially, that have had similar experiences and upbringings. It is because of these things that the mere mention of the word "submission" can be enough to:

  • Make some women's blood boil (!)
  • Make some women prefer to remain single
  • Cause some women to see God as unjust, since His words seems to promote inequality
  • Cause some women to believe that God doesn't love them or value women in general

Hence, the afore-mentioned scripture in Ephesians, shows us that the church has much to set the record straight on with regards to this controversial topic.

Lessons from Eve On Stewardship

Lessons from Eve On Stewardship

Just before my 26th birthday, people started to nudge me about “the next stage in life” (i.e. marriage and children), implying that this would be my ultimate stamp of womanhood. The problem? I had my reservations. Why? Well, I guess this is what happens when you grow up seeing most of your female role-models sell themselves short or stay in abusive situations due to factors such as tradition, control and low self-worth.

 

You see, as much as my elders loved me and invested me with great skills and values, I didn’t have any older women (in my immediate circle) that I really looked at and felt that I wanted to be like, or have a relationship similar to. I knew this to be true of most of the people in my social circle too; yet I saw many women of my age group taking up the mantle of our fore-runners and repeating their history.

And that’s how I came to my crossroads…

I didn’t want to conform to social norms, building my future on the opinions of men and repeating their histories (as I’d seen others do). I wanted to become the woman God had ordained me to be; so, I became really interested in comparing these notions to what the Bible had to say about topics such as women, womanhood and my purpose as one.

I literally decided to go through the Bible looking at each woman and the spiritual truths we can garner from their stories, which is what started my passion for the women of the Bible (but especially Eve). My book, “The Ultimate Guide to Eve,” is basically a collation of my findings. Here is an excerpt on what Eve teaches us about the fact that we are called to rule:

Lessons from The Virtuous Woman, Lydia and Priscilla on How to be a Strong Business Woman

Lessons from The Virtuous Woman, Lydia and Priscilla on How to be a Strong Business Woman

I have been a fan of Mary J. Blige since my childhood in the early 90s and have taken great inspiration from watching the way that she has blazed trails, set trends and overcome adversity, both in her career and personal life, from then even up till now. This, in addition to the fact that her songs tend to surround themes such as female empowerment, make her a favourite. 

With a title like “The Strength of a Woman,” her new album seems set to carry on this important discussion. So, to celebrate, I was inspired to share 8 markings of a strong business woman through some of my favourite Mary J. Blige lyrics. These were then featured on Sheleadsafrica,org, where I discussed characteristics such as:

  1. Having a niche (both in terms of specialism and market)
  2. Having goals and going for them
  3. Refusing to tolerate negative entities
  4. Rising above naysayers and enemies of progress
  5. Seeking positive relationships and collaborations
  6. Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
  7. The importance of having a positive outlook and faith
  8. Using your platform for good

You can read the article in full here.

This then set off a chain of events in which I became inspired to research some of the business women of the Bible. Because, as much as some would have us believe that women should have no choice but to stay at home, the women we are about to discuss show differently....

Lessons from Athaliah on Seeking Godly Counsel

Lessons from Athaliah on Seeking Godly Counsel

Athaliah was the daughter of Queen Jezebel and King Ahab. They were the monarchs that rejected God and introduced the worship of a god called Baal in Israel- even going so far as to kill the majority of God's prophets. 

After lots of shuffling of monarchs, when they died, Athaliah's son (Ahaziah) became king. However, the Bible says that:

"He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother advised him to do wickedly. Therefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab; for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction " (2nd Chronicles 22:3-4)

Athaliah, therefore, has much to teach us on the importance of seeking godly counsel.

An Interview with Mary DeMuth on Mary of Bethany

An Interview with Mary DeMuth on Mary of Bethany

Today's interview installment comes from Mary DeMuth of Marydeuth.com, where she shares the inspirational "restorying" process that God has taken her and other people through. Read on as she discusses Mary of Bethany (her favourite woman of the Bible) and what we, as modern women, can learn from her: