pdf of Issacharian Daughters – ID048 – click on link below for correct layout and photos

id048-dominion-oriented-femininity.pdf

Dear Girls,

I have a question for you: How do you define a leader? What makes a leader a leader?

I’m thinking in the familial context with fathers and husbands.

I would love to receive your feedback on this one. Email me your definitions and comments.

Being a Comfort and a Blessing to Fathers and Brothers

Here are some comments on the Issacharian Daughters newsletter #046,??Being a Comfort and a Blessing to Fathers and Brothers. ??

??Thank you so much for this lovely newsletter Genevieve! I really enjoyed the wonderful sense of the vision you conveyed in the email, and the many practical and handy hints.I really enjoyed the instructions about shoe polishing.I never thought of heat melting the polish more! Thank you again so much.I feel so inspired ;).Praise the Lord. Love Katherine, North Island, New Zealand ??

??Dear Genevieve, Thank you very much for the latest Issacharian newsletter. I had read a neat article at www.visionarydaughters.com (one of my favourite websites) about serving our brothers. Your newsletter has done a fantastic job of explaining in more specific detail HOW to serve,encourage, motivate, and uplift them in a practical way. I really appreciate it, my sister in Christ. Love from, Kedesh xox, North Island, New Zealand. ??

??Dear Genevieve, Thanks for the newsletter, I really enjoyed it! It had a lot of great lessons in it that I’ll definitly remember! Love Ruth, South Island, New Zealand ??

This next newsletter is really excellent! It is attached as a pdf (open this to see the newsletter format and images) and the text from the newsletter follows below this note.

Welcome to all of you who are joining us for the first time this week.

Regards,Genevieve Smith Monday, 23 July 2007

Dear Girls,

Dominion Oriented Femininity

My friends, Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin spoke at the recent Vision Forum Father/Daughter Retreat. Here is a small portion of their speech entitled, Dominion Oriented Femininity, Cultivating Sturdy Virtue in Modern Daughters which they have kindly given me permission to reprint. Keep an eye on the Vision Forum website in case they come out with a CD of the full speech. It will be well worth obtaining!

What is Biblical Femininity?

??What is Biblical femininity? What does it look like? What is its purpose? ??

Some say that Biblical femininity is whatever the feminists have rejected. That’s bad hermeneutics. We have to be careful that we don’t build our philosophy of womanhood or anything on a knee-jerk reaction to something bad. The Bible is our only standard, and it should be our motivation to do right. Besides, the entire feminist movement is so splintered it’s not even consistent in what it rejects.

Some say that Biblical femininity is any picture of womanhood from before the woman’s suffrage movement. Actually, feminism has been around since the garden of Eden, and has had its advocates in every century.

Some have suggested that femininity is the opposite of masculinity. Certainly we’re supposed to be distinctly different from men, but that doesn’t necessarily mean opposite.

In Genesis God reveals to us the essence of femininity when he shows us how Eve was supposed to correlate to Adam.

??Then the LORD God said,??It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’?? (Genesis 2:18)

So we see, the woman was made for the man, like it says in 1 Corinthians 11:9. She is a different creature, made for a different purpose. Her role is different, as we see in Genesis 3, and she is to look different, as we see in Deuteronomy 22:5. She should rejoice in that difference, because that difference is what makes her complementary to the man.

And the purpose of this difference, which we call femininity, was, to help masculinity and suit masculinity ??to complement it and complete it. The two of them together would be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.

True femininity is about helping men fulfill their calling.

Any departure from this is a departure from Biblical femininity. Throughout the Bible and throughout history, we really only see two kinds of womanhood. The kind that devotes its identity to helping men fulfill their calling ??and the kind that wants power over men. The first lives a life of self-sacrifice, the latter only wants its own way. The latter is what we call??feminism. ??

Feminism appears in many guises throughout history. Sometimes feminism tries to subdue masculinity with its womanly wiles/charms.Sometimes feminism is narcissistic and self-absorbed, purely ornamental and consequently useless. It’s not interested in helping men take dominion.

And sometimes it tries to compete with masculinity and out-man it.

But one thing is consistent ??feminism is always independent and self-seeking, and its desire is to weaken and dominate men.Understanding this is very helpful when it comes to sorting through all the images around us.

It’s the privilege of our generation to purposefully and deliberately pioneer real femininity.

Based on the examples of the virtuous women in the Bible, we can construct a basic picture of a Christian lady, a real lady.

A lady is a woman who understands that she has been bought with a price, and therefore glorifies God in her body and her spirit, which are God’s.

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1Corinthians 6:20)

She surrenders every aspect of her being and identity to God. Like a shepherd, she thinks of everyone before herself, and endeavors to lead others back to Christian civilization and obedience to God by her public and private example.

As a servant of the people, she realizes that every attention to her appearance and education is for the benefit of others and not herself. For this reason she thinks carefully about how she presents herself. Because the way she dresses communicates her loyalties, whether she’s loyal to pop culture or to her own comfort or to her King and His law. Her appearance can set an example to people and show modesty and femininity to be as beautiful as they really are. Like the Proverbs 31 woman, she??maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing [is] silk and purple. ?? She thinks carefully about how she speaks and carries herself, because she knows the world is watching, and as an ambassador of the Most High King, she must be a model of strength and dignity.

But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

She wants everything she does to inspire and edify others and glorify God. She radiates regal serenity, grace and poise, a gentle and quiet voice, discretion, self-command, sincerity, peace, cheerfulness and humility.

[Here comes a great description of dominion oriented femininity. See how different it is to seeing ourselves as merely made for decoration ??Ed. Remember the Issacharian Daughters newsletter #047 entitled, I Am An Eve.]

No task is too big or too small, too high or too low, for a lady. She’ll be able to rise or stoop to the occasion, however demanding it may be, without losing her poise and grace. She is not too dainty or delicate to do the dirty work in serving her family. Understanding that there is a time for everything, she is balanced and flexible; ready to serve tea or to take up a tent-peg against an enemy.

She is hospitable and warm, gentle and kind, filled with compassion for those with real needs. Her manners show a concern for the comforts of others instead of an absorbing focus on herself. Many girls are inhibited by shyness, and I was one of them. I was so shy and self-conscious that I had a hard time even talking to people, let alone reaching out to people in a Christlike way. A few years ago I [Elizabeth] realized that shyness is nothing more than excessive focus on self and often a fear of man. These are both sinful. It wasn’t until I purposed to focus on the people I was around and their needs, that I was able to overcome my reclusiveness.

A real lady learns to ignore her comfort zone. Like the pilgrim women, she is intrepid, brave, hard-working and sacrificial. Instead of pursuing her own interests, she has studied to be useful.

And finally, she is distinctively feminine in a way that complements and completes masculinity,rather than clashing with it.

For the Greater Glory of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Genevieve SmithIssacharian Daughter