31 Days: Glory of Man

Each Sunday {well, SHOULD have been on Sunday this week!} during this 31 Days series, I’ll be touching on a different aspect of womanhood from the Five Aspects of Woman by Barbara Mouser.

Today, we wrap up the Five Aspects posts. Makes me want to go back and do the whole study again. Such good thoughts to ponder and apply in my life now that I had no idea about when I first went through the study as an engaged college girl.

But, of course, the hardest aspect to write about is the last one in this series.

When you hear “Glory of Man,” what do you think?

The study of this aspect covers the reasons WHY women are considered the glory of man.

Man is the glory of God because he was created in the image of God. Woman is the glory of man because she was created FROM and FOR him.

If this idea rubs you the wrong way, think of it in this manner:

We are the glory of man because we are God’s crowning achievement – we are exactly what man needed in every way.

And we are created BEAUTIFUL.

Yep – YOU. YOU were created beautiful.

You ARE beautiful.

Do you believe that today? Would God make you anything less?

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ~Psalm 139:13-14

Wonderfully made. That is you, dear friend.

I wish this wasn’t hard for so many of you to accept. That is the result of the fall. Beauty became tainted by our culture – skinny models, flawless skin, celebrities who always look “put together,” and especially pornography.

That is not beauty.

You are beauty. YOU are the glory of man, created by God.

This summary from Barbara Mouser is such a beautiful note to finish this series on…

“Woman is the quintessential creature. If man is the head of creation, woman is the crown. If he is the first person, the leader; she is the last person, the completer. In her, all the creaturely traits and roles are beautified, made resplendent, and highlighted. It is a glorious thing to be a woman.”

It is a glorious thing to be a woman. Amen.

And now, the most important part of this study for any woman – a few questions for self-reflection…

1. Do you enjoy being a woman?

2. Do you see the glory of each sex as different, yet wonderful in its own way?

3. Do you love beauty? Is it in your own soul? Do you seek to give it to others?

Whether you married or single, a mom or not, wherever you are as a woman, these are important questions to explore. And if the answer to any of these questions is no, then WHY is it no?

Embrace all of the ways in which God created you as woman – lifegiver, mistress of your domain, helper-completer, lady of wisdom and glory of man – and find joy in every role!

*****

Which of the Five Aspects do you identify with most? Least?