Embracing Femininity

Something Gretchen wrote recently put a new twist into my thoughts:

Femininity is not something you can put on, but rather a reflection of an inner beauty.

God has been teaching me a lot about femininity lately. I know I believe firmly in the truths of the quote above. But am I really feminine in my attitude and heart? Am a grateful for being a woman? Do I love my created order as a graceful, meek woman?

I am going to be honest with you. I don’t wear skirts all the time. And really, I don’t feel “more feminine” in a skirt. I believe you can be modest and feminine in pants as well as skirts.

Yet, my whole goal to be modest is an outpouring of my relationship with Christ. It isn’t a set moral standard. It isn’t so I “won’t cause my brother to stumble” (although that is a good goal!). It is because I am a daughter of God, and I want to reflect His beauty, love, and holiness.

But it’s when I am totally satisfied with Jesus and His created purpose for me as a woman that I feel feminine and know I’m feminine. The true joy of femininity is complete satisfaction with who God made me to be.

That’s exciting. Because it no longer depends on me to be feminine. It’s Christ’s work in me.

Femininity is submission.

Femininity is a meek and quiet spirit.

Femininity is servitude.

Femininity is worship.

And it’s not affected by how hard I work, how many blisters I get, how many shovels I heave—it’s a heart of beauty reflected by my King.

Femininity is not avoidance of hard, diligent labor. It’s participating in sometimes grueling work with grace and meekness.

Femininity is a lot like holiness. It isn’t a set standard of moral code; it is a privilege of a redeemed daughter of the King to be the meek and quiet jewel I was created to be. It is rejoicing in my gift of feminine grace and reflecting the beauty of Christ’s love to a needy world around me.

I’m not throwing away modesty. I’m embracing femininity.

And through that, my heart will be transformed to be more like my Jesus, and my outward appearance will then reflect that feminine beauty.

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. (1 Peter 3:3-4)

Melinda is a 20-year-old curly-haired, fun-loving, farm livin’ young woman who blogs at Abounding In Hope and can be reached at melinda@aboundinginhope.com