Whose Am I?

Today's post is sponsored by the talented Elisabeth Elliot and Let me be a Woman, of which I started reading again. Any time I can combine a little bit of history and some theology it's a good thing. Well, unless you count that one time I wrote a paper about gender roles and history, and it totally ended up looking like I was egalitarian. But I most certainly am not! - Another story for another day.  For now, we get to today.

If you looked on my book shelf right now, you would see two People Magazines featuring both the 1960's and 1970's. Two of my favorite decades to study to date. Why you might ask? I think these decades fascinate me because of the pure antics that occurred as a result of the cultural revolution from 1963 to 1974. Society saw it's most dramatic changes from the ideals established by our Creator. Don't get me wrong, things were going far from the ideal before this time - Sin entered the world at the Fall. But, this time period saw the birth and growth of the sexual revolution, gay rights movement and most importantly the feminist revolution.

The feminist revolution and Who Am I?

Who am I? It's a simple question that can have many answers. It can take many turns. It can define goals. It can be the most uplifting of answers, yet it can be answered in the most self-deprecating of ways. It can be wishful thinking. It can turn a world upside down. It can, and it did.

The feminist revolution, in it simplest form, is marked by woman's desire to overpower man and form an independent nature apart from the roles as outlined in scripture. The movement initially started with the desire for voting rights and took on a greater front in the 60's with the desire for equal opportunity in the workplace. None of which are bad. However, the movement soon went to more extreme levels with the desire for birth control as a means for controlling one's body, abortion rights and the sickly ever-growing pornography industry. Women began to question their traditional roles and look down on these roles as stifling, imprisonment and co-dependent. They wanted to be free, so they went after it. "Who am I?" is the question at the root of this movement. When this question was asked then (and most certainly/often is asked now), women are placing themselves at the center of their lives and as in control of their own lives - "What's in it for me" mentality.  They define their goals, plans and actions based on the answer to this question and center their lives around accomplishing the goals for themselves. Me-centered.

Whose am I?

It's a simple question that has only one answer. I am a daughter of the Almighty. 

This is the question the women of the feminist revolution failed to ask themselves. This is a question I fail to ask myself. You see, we come to the Lord with a sense of entitlement. When we focus on ourselves, we ask "Who am I?" and begin to list the things we deserve in light of becoming the person we think we should be. We believe we deserve x,y and z. The truth is that we deserve nothing, and yet He has given us everything. We/I have to change that perspective and know whose we are first and foremost. When we are confident we are children of the Most High God and co-heirs with Christ, our insecurities will fade because we are secure in Him. Our desires will fade because we will desire only Him. Our sense of entitlement will fade because we have everything we need in Him. Our goals, plans and actions will no longer be based on self; but instead will based on the plans He has for us. Christ-centered.

And another will write on his hand 'Belonging to the Lord' Isaiah 44:5

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20

Let me be a woman. Let me be a woman who trusts in God, who seeks His guidance and knowledge, who lives each moment to the hilt that she believes to be the very will of God. Let me be a woman who is strong and respected, submissive and knowledgeable, who is lovely and fears the Lord.