Becoming a Titus 2 Woman: Beginning a New Chapter

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Typing that title almost made me feel a bit adulteress to my very familiar Proverbs 31 Woman moniker. For over 7 years now Proverbs 31:10-31 has been a guiding focus in my life, & the reference of P31W has become near & dear to my heart so inserting a new scripture reference feels a bit scandalous...silly, eh? When my engagement to my high school sweetheart ended early in 2006, I was utterly lost, confused, & hurt. I had no idea what or who I was supposed to be. I desperately wanted to be a godly woman, but had no clue if God even had a specific plan for women at all. I'd grown up in the church, heard countless messages on various topics, but I had never heard anything that spoke directly to the character of women. I'd heard admonitions to be modest, & I'd heard the 'S' (submit) word whispered with snarls & sneers, but that was it...and it just seemed like there ought to be more to the story. Many months later a wonderful man opened his Bible one evening. He told me to listen as he read something that reminded him of me. By the time he finished reading, tears poured down my face because I knew that he was wrong...I was not the woman that Proverbs 31 spoke of, but I wanted to be. Needless to say that I hung onto that man...any man who reads you the Word is a keeper in my book! The Lone Ranger is my supreme blessing, along with our 3 precious little ladies. That night he unknowingly guided me towards the answers I'd been longing for. I spent the next 6+ years scouring that passage (in every single version of the Bible), reading books & commentaries that broke it down, & allowing God to begin a work in me. I was not quite prepared for how uncomfortable & disconcerting it would be. It's not a fun thing to discover that everything you know, everything you think, everything you do is wrong. The journey has not always been pretty. Very often along the way, I handled the conviction & correction with ugliness & anger, but Abba was always faithful. Each time I was ready to throw in the towel, He revealed to me the extravagant blessing that was behind each transformation. With every revelation, He lovingly reproofed me & molded me (mind, body, & soul) into the vision He had. Little did I know how much my high school ceramics class would prepare me to endure the painful molding process.

'And yet, Oh Lord, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We are all formed by your hand." (Isaiah 64:8)

That class had given me insight into how nothing becomes something...how an ugly, stinky lump of clay becomes a beautiful & useful vessel. I knew that who I was...my preconceived notions, my skewed ideologies, & the results of that stinking thinking...made me just like that clay, but I also knew that Abba was a master artisan & that I was in good hands. That knowledge alone made me willing to seek His transformation in my life. While I would not go so far as to say I am either beautiful nor useful, I will say that what I am now is vastly more improved than what I once was. So I continue to yield to this molding process, knowing that the Potter will get me there.

Proverbs 31:10-31 has been the backbone of my transformation thus far, but nearly a year ago a dear friend introduced me to a new piece of scripture...one that I believe creates an even more encompassing & definitive framework of Abba's vision for godly womanhood. Titus 2, specifically verses 3-5, speak to 9 qualities that we as believing women should strive to possess. It is this passage, & the acquiring of these traits that has begun a new chapter of molding in my life. Over the next little while I will be writing a series over Titus 2:3-5. I'll be defining these qualities & discussing their relevance in our lives today.

My hope is that perhaps you will join me on the journey...that you too are a lump of clay ready to be molded into a work of art by the Potter's Hands. I can promise that moments of conviction will come & step on your toes. I can promise that uncomfortable & sometimes painful changes will need to be made, but I can also promise that it's all worth it...that discovering & becoming Abba's version of a godly woman is more fulfilling & more rewarding than being a woman of the world could ever be. I must make clear that very often in our discussions the conduct of the secular world will be the utter antithesis of what God desires...I'll make no apologies for truthfully acknowledging where we as a believing people...as believing women...have compromised our integrity by blending into that culture, but as always I speak from a place of personal conviction. If what I share steps on your toes, know that mine too have been bruised by Abba's righteous revelations...that's why I so strongly desire us to endure this molding process together! As soon as time allows, & The Lord urges, I will begin posting this Titus 2 Woman (T2W) Series...until then, Be Blessed!