There is a popular teaching out these days to help men step into their calling in the home, life and walk with God. It is an amazing teaching based on helping the heart to “Come Alive.” Women too have gleaned from the encouragement to allow the soul to pursue the God-inspired passions of the heart.
Yet, there is one aspect of this teaching I have been pondering, challenging to my core. The belief is that the woman needs to be rescued; therefore, the role of the man is to rescue ‘THE BEAUTY.”
It sounds right to me at first (I may “want” to be rescued…but do I “need” to be rescued). I have watched many women enter into relationships based on this need instead of giving God time to work out the character that unfolded the dysfunction. And too, I hear the frustration in a husband’s pursuit, “How do I rescue the beauty that doesn’t need to be rescued?” “What can I do for a woman that finds her way and strength in God and therefore does not need me?” It can be one of our enemy’s many plans against God’s children, PLACE THEIR IDENTITY AS A MAN IN THEIR ABILITY TO RESCUE OR SAVE A WOMAN! AND PLACE THE WOMAN’S IDENTITY IN A MAN’S WILLINGNESS TO SAVE HER! (How valuable is a woman when “her” man is not willing to make the sacrifce?)
If a woman has become strong in the Lord after years of His faithfulness to walk her through dark valleys and unsurmountable mountains, she is not likely to demonstrate weakness or neediness, NO, not when she has learned to lean on and trust Jesus. Christ completed her! Yet, I know for a fact this strong woman longs for a partner in the natural to share the beauty of her life. She seeks a partner that will KNOW HER as Christ KNOWS HER. She embraces the man that will see beyond all her quirks, wrinkles, temperaments, and soulish expressions and LOVE HER still. This love is not expressed merely by saying “I love you” but in a consistent demonstration of Christ-like love! That is: to encourage her when she is struggling with defeat, give her hope when life comes to beat her down, be strong in faith when she is emotionally weak, and most of all…believe the best about her when the ugliest parts of herself want to surface. Let her see herself through your eyes and let them be the eyes of Christ. Fight for her by winning the battle over your own character to put her heart before your own! And if you do, I promise, her heart will forever belong to you! No woman can resist what diminishes her flaws and develops her strengths.