To Be or Not to Be?

I attended a Women's Conference this weekend. The theme was a Spa Weekend for Magnificent Women. It was pretty nice, although not quite the spa experience I was looking for. I had had one of the crappiest weeks ever and my mood was pretty much in the toilet. I had no expectations of how I wanted or needed to be fed. So I went with an open-mind and heart. The speaker was Alicia Britt Chole. A rather soft-spoken woman, she was a tad earthy/granola but her information was on point and she was real. If you have an opportunity, check out her website: http://www.truthportraits.com/. She has an awesome testimony especially since she used to be an atheist. Now she is sold out for JESUS! Can I get an, "AMEN!"

Because I was blessed by her, I thought that I'd bless you with some of the wisdom that I gleaned from her presentation. Trust me, it is worth sharing. She operated from this simple statement which packed a serious punch; To be or not to be a woman of God? She opened by talking about decisions and choices. According to Alicia, every choice is a seed and every seed bears fruit. She wanted to know how is your garden growing? She went on to let us know that God "thins our lives to thicken our character." In going with her garden analogy, think pruning, which is necessary to maintain a garden. God uses raw integrity to get through and remove the layers of mis-thinking, lies, and deceit we've fed ourselves or been fed.


Then she focused on several choices that we women are faced with. The first of which is, to be a woman who enthrones truth, not to be a woman whose mind is unpatrolled/uncontrolled. The basic premise is this, women can't let their emotions/lives drive their lives. Our false, constantly changing emotions/feelings become our truth, which determines our will. So, we need to retrain our minds by filling it with truth, through repeated exposure to the Word. That results in our thoughts re-aligning to God's thoughts. In this situation, victory is not the absence of uncooperative feelings, but the presence of obedience. Scripture references for this issue are Phil. 4:8, John 8:32, I Cor. 2:16, I Peter 1:13, Rom. 12:2, an Col. 3:2.


Next choice is to be a woman whose value is anchored in her Creator's love, not to be a woman whose value is anchored in mankind's approval. The essence of this choice is that people's opinion of you can't define who you are. Mankind's promise is a faulty compass. She noted that the four false sources of value in the church are performance, productivity, perfection, and position(4Ps). In this case, the value's root are not anchored in "doing" but in "being." She expounded on this point by reminding us at our value was established at creation, was affirmed at the cross, and can't be added to or subtracted from by anything or anyone. To reinforce these points she also reminded us that we always have God's attention, so what could man add. Also that we always have God's acceptance, again, what can man add. And finally, Our Daddy, God, is proud of you and it has nothing to do with the 4Ps. Scripture references for this choice are Gen. 1:26-28, Isa. 43:1, and John 5:44.


The third choice is to be a woman who chooses to be fiercely faithful, not to be a woman who flirts with unfaithfulness. She made this lesson applicable to both, married and single women. Basically, your "I do" to one person is your "I don't" to everyone else. Deep huh? So if you are single, Jesus is your Husband, everyone else is rather irrelevant. To further her point she had us reflect on who we allow to make deposits into the intimate part of us called, "woman." You know we love and need to be invested in. She also had us thinking about whether we fulfill God given desires outside of God's given context. She questioned whether we honor the marriage covenant of others and whether we did so with our eyes, touch, and thoughts. You can be unfaithful intellectually and emotionally. Most folks always focus on physical. Lastly, she inquired as to whether or not we were ruining any kings. You know those moments when you go so far but just miss crossing the line. Yes, I mean the compromising positions. You gotta date with boundaries. Tough stuff! Think about it! Scripture references for this set of ideas is based on Matt. 5:27-28, Prov. 31:3, and Heb. 13:4.

Her final choice was to be a woman whose "yes" to Jesus is unconditional, not to be a woman whose obedience is compartmentalized. The message was simple and clear....there is no substitute for obedience. She let us know that disobedience can't be quarantined. It is going to infect everything. Her final point was that you should not be offended by what I do unless you are offended by what you've done. Well that directive is clear, isn't it? The scripture references for this choice are I Cor. 9:26-27, I John 2:4, and I John 5:4.

She left each of us with much to think about and reflect upon. She ended her session by inviting the women in attendance to sign a covenant to be committed to Jesus in all of their life choices and to live it out in their daily walk. Jesus simply asks that we come and follow Him. No hesitation, no excuse, and no conditions. It will not always be easy but it will be so worth it. My friends and I pooled our money to purchase the DVD series. Eventually, I will let you know about the other choices we women deal with and what I glean from her discussion. For now, enjoy the meditating on the choices listed here and let me know what you think. Till next time, Lord willing, be blessed!

Copyright January 26, 2010 by Pamela Cole Thorpe