Weighed Down Women

First let me say that I love women!  Relationships with women can bring great times of laughter, love and comfort.   I am a woman and as a woman I admit that we can also be very difficult to live with, work with and to shepherd.  Many a man has tried to figure out a woman, but as hard as they try it seems an impossible task!  However, the Lord has us women figured out!  Jesus was a friend to women:  the good and the bad, the beautiful and the homely, the strong and the weak. He listened to them, asked them penetrating questions, and accepted them just as they were, but then he showed them a better way to live.  He pointed them to a life of freedom, freedom from shame, worry, and fear.

I have taught a women’s Sunday morning Bible study for almost six years.  I have seen hundreds of women come and go.  A handful of them have stayed and have faithfully come back week after week. I have had the joy of seeing some of these women grow in forgiveness, in faith, in leadership, and in their family relationships.  This teacher’s heart loves to see women who take in the Word and allow it to change them from the inside out!  However, my teacher’s heart is burdened for those who seem to always be learning, yet never able to come to understand the truth that will set them free.  These are faithful to show up, yet they continue to be weighed down with sin and the struggles of life.   

“For among them (men) are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”   2 Timothy 3:6-7

I have been meditating on these two phrases: “Women weighed down with sins,” and “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”   I can see myself in these verses.  I have found myself so overwhelmed with trying to manage an undisciplined area of my life that I have been captivated by a quick and easy approach to victory.  When faced with defeat or discouragement, I have tried to soothe myself with food, shopping, or even a manicure. I am not saying those things are bad things, but if I am trying to use them as solutions to my sin problem things will only go from bad to worse.   

How many verses do we have to memorize on contentment until we come to understand truly how to find it in our own life?  How many times do we have to do Beth Moore’s Bible study, Breaking Free until we break free?  How many retreats do we sign up for until we finally understand how to rest and find refreshment in Christ alone?  What does it take to come to the knowledge of the truth?  A woman who incessantly goes to Bible study and is “never able to come to the knowledge of truth” has no recognition or awareness of the truth when she sees it written out on the pages of Scripture.  So how do we begin to recognize the truth that will set us free? 

Weak women are weak because they choose not to discipline themselves. I am thankful for a personal trainer who introduced me to the world of strength training over 20 years ago.  I had known about strength training, but I had no idea how it would change my life, if only I would practice it.  First I had to admit I was pretty weak and needed some guidance to get started.  Once I began to lift weights on a consistent basis, my arms became firm and my muscles became defined.  I felt stronger physically and was able to do things I had never been able to do before.  I have come to the knowledge of the truth about strength training! 

The same is true spiritually. In Proverbs it says, “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a woman who lacks self-control.”   First we must admit our weakness, our sins, our complacency, and our lack of self-control.  Then we must believe the truth of Ephesians 5:22 that tell us that the fruit of the Holy Spirit dwelling in every believer is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  If you are weak in your belief of that truth, ask the Lord to strengthen you in your faith.  Read that truth everyday.   Pray that truth every time you are tempted to waiver.  Think on that truth often throughout the day.  Then act on that truth.  Application will result in transformation!  A quote by Zig Zigglar has helped me often in my weak, weighed down moments: “You don’t feel your way into a new way of behaving, you behave your way into a new way of feeling.” Choose to discipline yourself in order to become a strong woman who is no longer led astray by emotional impulses, but captivated by Jesus, the one who loves you and understands you like no other. That is when you will recognize truth when you see it - because you will be living it! 

Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 

Then, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."   John 8:32

Captivated by Jesus,

Nancy