You know what’s interesting? The two most wise women in my life are the most impartial women I know. They seek out the outsiders. They look to meet the needs of all who surround them, not just those closest to them.
It’s almost as if James was on to something when he included “impartiality” in his description of true, godly wisdom.
“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” James 3:17
When I think about it, truly to be impartial is to be peaceable, pure, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, and sincere. It’s to pursue peace with all, love others with a pure motive, be gentle in our handling of other people, remain open to hearing perspectives that differ from our own, show mercy to those many may avoid, and love others out of sincerity. …
What makes a good friend? Harry Nilsson liked his best friend so much he wrote a song about him.
“People let me tell you ’bout him he’s so much fun.”
Fun. Is that the mark of a good and godly friend? There’s a new trend on Pinterest among today’s youth. Perfectly posed pictures of “friends” laughing and seemingly having a fantastic time are pinned to the walls of countless teen girls. These photos teach them to believe the main mark of a good friend is how fun they are. Friendship envy has always been a problem among women but I think these pictures create an even deeper desire to have the “perfect” friendship. Adult women aren’t immune to the deception either. Many times, pictures of this sort cause us to focus on the surface qualities of a friend. Do they make us laugh? Do they dress well? Do we have the same interests?…
When I was 23, I was working a part time job, when one day on my break a fire inside my heart was kindled. I wanted to encourage my friends and fellow church ladies. I was well aware that each of us were walking different roads, and many of the women on my text list were much wiser, but I knew we all could benefit from reading scripture. Thus, I began my search for nuggets of truth in my quiet time to send off to be refined by God in the hearts of whomever he chose. To me, it was nothing more than sharing my heart with the women who were dearest to me.
One day, a friend wrote back, “Brittany, have you ever thought about becoming a writer?” I thought to myself, “Ha! I’m terrible at writing!”
Flash forward a couple years. I was studying Romans, and my heart burned to share the amazing things God was showing me.…
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV)
I’ve been thinking a lot about these verses. We often use them as a conviction card, throwing it in the face of Christians who refuse to go to church. And while this certainly applies to them, we forget it’s application to our own hearts.
A Christian can, indeed, attend church while simultaneously disobeying this command. We may meet together on Sunday, and then ignore virtually everyone while remaining in our own little bubble for the rest of the week. In fact, many people do this.
I’ve written in the past about how utterly needy we are as Christians, and how Jesus has provided not only his physical body, but his Body, the Church, for our needs.
I’ve been learning a lot about the art of rejoicing with others lately. And I’m learning it as I walk through a painful loss in my own life. As I watch friends and family receive what was taken from me, temptation weighs heavy upon my shoulders. It’s a temptation most of us wrestle with and many of us give in to.
Comparison.
I recently wrote about how comparison is really just a glorified word for envy. Comparison comes from a covetous heart. It’s a heart that says, “I want what she has.” or, “Why didn’t God give me that too?”
And it’s damaging to a friendship.
Why Not Me?
At some point in every friendship, there will be one gal who receives what the other has been dreaming of. Whether its a husband, a baby, another baby or an opportunity you want, she has it, and you don’t. And it’s hard.…
Right now, as you read this article, Christian women across the world are silently wrestling with lust. You might be one of them.
Clothed in shame over their failed attempts to fight on their own, they hide.
She’s the single girl who wasn’t taught correctly about purity and God’s design for sex. She’s the married mom of two, who’s struggle didn’t end when she found her husband, like she thought it would. She’s the teen with new desires. She’s the older women in the pew next to you.
And she’s in desperate need of help before it’s too late.
Truly, it’s an epidemic.
This epidemic of women pretending like lust doesn’t exist in all of our lives. We walk around as if we have fully eluded its grip, unscathed.
But most of us, if not all, haven’t.
The Reality of Lust Among Christian Women
Out of all of the articles I’ve written, one has stuck out as most popular by a landslide.…
