My Dear sisters, you are Fearfully and Wonderfully made. God values femininity, otherwise He would not have created you that way. I’m writing this to free you from a harmful lie. The need to hide or degrade your femininity and replace it with a man’s traits is a LIE. Don’t let the world convince you to lose your uniqueness.

But before you immediately form an opinion that I’m a sexist who does not believe in Woman’s rights, let’s go ahead and get that conclusion out of the way –

I respect women who have passions. I respect women who use the gifts God gave them for the greater good. I respect women who are not lazy. I respect the women who have dignity and confidence.

I respect women who are successful and ambitious. What I don’t respect, is when I see women do it to try to become more like men.

Our culture puts so much pressure on women these days. They encourage us to “Work like a man!” and “Think like a man!” It’s everywhere from our school systems, to our entertainment and media, and memes on Pinterest.

But that’s what God created men for. To work like men, behave like men, and think like men.

But if we are “women”, shouldn’t we work like women, behave like women, and think like women? God has already created men to bring those things to the table, and to bring their perspective. We as women, were created to bring other things to the table, and to bring a different perspective.

As a woman, don’t go into a career to prove that you are just as capable as a man. Go into a career because you have wonderful things to offer as a woman. Don’t live life trying to prove that you are just as a good as man. You are a different type of good! It is not sexist to say that men and women are not equally good at everything, because men and women can be good at different things. It is sexist to say that one gender is more important than the other. But they are both equally important because they have different things to offer.

If God wanted everyone to act like men, He would have created us all the same. But He created women to be unique and separate. Women were created to bring balance to men’s masculinity with our femininity.

Some women may believe that they should have been born a man . . . as if it were a mistake that they were born a woman. But God doesn’t make mistakes. A new life in the womb is never a mistake, because it was given by God. Your gender is never a mistake because that’s who God chose you to be. Whether you don’t like being a woman or not . . . it is your calling.

As your sister-in-Christ who cares about you, my intention is not to insult you or criticize you. I want to encourage you. If you are not ashamed of being a woman, stop acting like it. Don’t try to change who you are . . . embrace it!

Just as we should behave like women in our culture, we need to behave like women in our relationships. Even if you don’t realize it, most women are wired to be attracted to men who know how to be strong and take the lead. Why? Because this is the type of man that brings ‘balance’ to you, as a woman. Did you know that most men value respect over love, and most women value love over respect? God wired us differently. More than anything, most men need to be respected. But sadly, this is often the one thing women deny them in our relationships, because we compete with them to be seen as equals in every area. How can we encourage men to step up and “Be the Man” when we’re trying to “Be the Man” ourselves?

We don’t need two people “Being the Man” in a relationship. God created marriage so that the man and woman could balance each other, not compete with each other. God created men and women so the whole world would be balanced.

Our culture would have us believe that what makes a woman beautiful is her body. The world idolizes a woman’s body in a way that makes us believe that defines being a woman. It’s no wonder so many women battle with food disorders, depression, low self-esteem and and deep insecurity. As females, we have a strong desire to be seen as beautiful. But when our bodies are the only thing that makes us beautiful, we know we can never measure up. We are left feeling like we have no worth. We’re objectified.

So in an effort to feel respected and important, many women place their worth in being equal with a man.

My dear sisters, this is the enemy trying to deceive you. This is the enemy trying to confuse you and degrade you. Your beauty is NOT only defined by your body . . . Your beauty goes WAY deeper than that! Your body is not the only thing that separates you from a man and makes you a woman . . . your womanhood goes FAR beyond that!

It’s nice to embrace being a woman by taking care of our appearance and wearing lovely clothing. But that’s not what defines our womanhood.

1 Peter 3:1-4 says “Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

“I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” – 1 Timothy 2:9-10

God values women who have a gentle and quiet spirit. He wants us to wear good deeds as our clothing. This is what God sees as “Beauty”. This is how God wants us to be “Women.”

That are so many wonderful things to embrace about being a woman that make you separate from a man. One of them is how we’re wired to have a Mothering and Nurturing spirit. Women have the ability to give birth, which men can never do. But even if you are not a woman who is capable of giving birth, or you never have children, you can still have a Mothering and Nurturing Spirit to those around you. Mother Teresa never had children of her own . . . But she was a Mother to many. You can be a Mother to your children at home, or you can go out and and be a Mother to the world.

Many people are so concerned about their calling in life, but they often forget to first embrace their calling to simply be male or female.

Is is a lie that you have to be like a man when God created you to be a woman. All that does is complicates and confuses the world, when God’s plan is very simple.

It’s true –  it takes strength to be a man. But that was the challenge that God gave men to live up to. Our challenge is to embrace our calling as women . . . and that also takes strength.

If you really want others to respect you as a woman, have womanly qualities worth respecting. Embrace your calling!