Passing the Bible on to our Daughters

I was at a conference a month ago, where the topic pertained to biblical manhood and womanhood. This is an issue that is very near to my heart because I see the devastating effects that feminism has had on our culture, and now the church. Something that one of the speakers said really stood out to me. In talking about women's bible studies, he mentioned the necessity for women to know how to actually teach the Bible to other women and not simply delegate bible study time to a DVD. In allowing a women's bible study to simply be a DVD of a popular female teacher, what actually happens is that it teaches the women in the group that you must be a nationally known speaker in order to teach the Bible. DVD's are good and helpful, but should not be the sole source of teaching that falls on the ears of our women.

I agree with him. If we do not, as women, first and foremost desire to study the Bible on our own, we will not be able to teach it to other women. The first step in training younger women is to first know the Bible, and desire the Bible, and to never grow tired of the Bible. The second step is to understand that Titus 2:3-5, which says, "They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands,” does not mean to pop in a DVD and that is the extent of the training. We have lost, in our churches, a deep reverence for the Word of God in our women’s ministries and subsequently this has happened in our children and youth ministries as well. We treat Bible study as something that men do, and women simply talk about feelings and what the Bible means to them.

Titus 2 ministry is about training the women to love the Book, to love their Savior, and to desire to know Him. And if we do not train our women to know their Bible’s and know Jesus Christ, who will teach the children? The high calling of motherhood means passing on Gospel truths to your children, and if you are not married, passing on Gospel truths to someone else’s children. This requires great faithfulness and desire to know the Gospel for ourselves. As women we have a distinct calling to teach women and to teach children, and it means teaching them the whole counsel of God from birth to adulthood. Being a biblical woman in today’s society will require a radical shift from what evangelical churches have been doing for so long. It will require women to embrace theology, not because we want to be like men, but because loving theology is loving and knowing our God. It will require women to take seriously the calling to motherhood and seeing that it is not simply feeding babies and changing diapers (though these are important), but a distinct and serious job that will impact the culture and church for years to come.

We must train our daughters to know their Bibles. We must reclaim women’s bible studies as a time of serious study and reflection on the Word of God, not because we want to be like men, but because we want to be like women—women who know their Savior. You don’t have to be a nationally known speaker and author to teach the Bible to women. You don’t have to be seminary trained. The Kingdom of God is made manifest when godly older women, who love Christ, sit in a small country church and open the Word of God to the next generation. This is counter-cultural, and it is beautiful.