Blog By Derek Holser
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…
So begins a well-known and oft-recited poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, written in 1845, the same year she met her husband, Robert Browning. Their romance has been widely chronicled, as it led to her disinheritance by her own father and produced some of the most compelling verses on love and devotion ever written.
This post is not intended to compete with the sonnets written by Mr. and Mrs. Browning. The words to follow have been cobbled together to remind the ladies of Wave Church, and women everywhere, of their unique place in this world and share just a couple reasons why women are beloved by God and adored by men.
No greater love exists than this – to give one’s life for one’s friends…
John 15 explains what we clearly see every day in the lives of grandmothers, aunts, mothers, sisters and daughters the world over. Generations rise and fall, trends come and go, but the sacrifice of women for their family, friends, community and their Lord remains. Women sacrifice time, talent, and more sleep than I can imagine. You endure a hundred other inconveniences and burdens with nary a complaint, without a whimper, except in the quiet hours alone with Jesus. Your individual and collective sacrifice helps redeem the world, our future, and our very souls.
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Proverbs 31 – that famous chapter about an exceptional woman, concludes with this reminder. The pursuit of surface appearance is a deceptive and treacherous road, but the women who trust in God will be applauded. Everyone is tempted by the relentless bombardment from the world by endless infomercials and product placements promising us that if we could only look younger and more attractive we would surely discover a greater life. But God reminds us, and the faithful women of God’s church show us, that true beauty is found in the spirit and determination of the ladies who stand on God’s promises and trust His truth, even when it seems all hope is lost. The tenacious conviction of the righteous, fierce, beautiful women of God convicts the strongest of man and captures our affection and admiration. May I encourage you to stay the course and ignore the whispers of the world. God’s promises will be kept, and your inner beauty is a reflection of this truth.
As I think of the women in my own life and their sacrifices for me, and the beauty of their faith, I’m reminded of the last verse of John, in which he writes that “If every one (of the things Jesus did) were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that could be written.”
So it is for me to count the reasons you are beloved.