politically incorrect wife #1

So, as I mentioned, I wanted to share some things from the book The Politically Incorrect Wife...reading this book really taught me a lot and changed my mind set on a lot of things. Maybe these posts will inspire you to read the book yourself; or make you stop and think about things a bit differently. Or maybe you'll skip them altogether and that's fine too.

Here's the thing for me -- I was not raised with the Bible. I am a fairly new Christian, and am still learning what the Bible teaches. I have a lot to learn. But one thing I realized was that I really had no idea what the Bible says about being a biblical wife. We've all heard the most popular wedding verse about "Love is patient, etc." But what about MY role specifically? And even with that, what about HIS role too?

If you have no idea what your job description is, it is guaranteed that you will never hit the mark successfully. What is a wife's job description? Lucky for us, God never intended for us to be frustrated or confused. He was very clear and exact about our role when he created the world.

"It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper for him."

A helper?? That's it?

REALLY???

God gave man the responsibility of rulership and of cultivating the Garden. Then he gave Eve her role as helper. This was determined BEFORE the first sin, while the world was still perfect. So it was not a punishment for Eve; it was the role God wanted for us.

Helper sounds a little mundane and "beneath"; but if you step back to realize that helper is a reflection of who God himself is, that helps it to take on a new light. God uses this tense of helper in two places only -- when referring to a wife, and when referring to himself. When we embrace being a helper, we are living as close to a God-like life as we are able. We are being a reflection of God.

Being a helper is not DOING SOMETHING -- it is BEING SOMEONE.

A helper is one who gives assistance or support to another, making life more pleasant and bearable.

I was raised to be an independent woman, so reading this book slapped my preconceived notions in the face all throughout. I won't lie. As I began the book, I couldn't help thinking -- isn't this a waste and misuse of the talents, gifts, and abilities that God gave me?? How can a woman be both independent and submissive? What was the point of a woman wasting money and time getting a college degree? A lot of similar thoughts were flowing through my mind and I was panicking big time. As I progressed through the book, though, I learned how to work on changing my thoughts on this. Because this is what it boils down to:

I can not rewrite God's job description to benefit myself. It is what it is.

And here's the kicker -- I am either obeying God, or I am disobeying God. There is no middle ground.

So -- Helper. Give that some thought and I'll be back with post #2 soon...