This podcast covers Lesson 3 of Adorn Yourself with Godliness Bible Study by Melanie Newton.

Loyalty to God Affects How You Adorn Yourself

Jesus demonstrated God’s love for women.

• The Lord Jesus demonstrated in His life on earth how much He loved and valued women. He taught them truth about God, forgave them for their sins, accepted them in His circle of followers, and gave new life to them after His resurrection. Women who knew Him loved Him and wanted to follow and serve Him!

The apostles continued Jesus’ attitude toward women.

• Every local church incorporated women into the body of believers and taught them the truths of the faith along with the men. Women played a significant role in the church's expansion. They supported the church through hospitality and financial gifts. Women were active in speaking God’s word (prophesying) and praying in the public worship service alongside the male members of the congregation.
• Only two restrictions were placed on women in the church. Women are restricted from the ongoing, authoritative teaching of a woman over a man in the church and holding the position of elder. Both of these are consistent with God’s activity in the Old Testament. 1 Timothy 2:11; 3:1-7

Freedom within boundaries

• Eve, the first woman, was deceived by Satan about why God had placed a restriction on that tree. Eve wanted what wasn’t God’s will for her or for Adam, either. 1 Timothy 2:12-14
• Christian women have the freedom to learn every aspect of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and can minister in many ways to many people, using our spiritual gifts to teach in the Body of Christ under the authority of the elders.
• Demanding freedom outside of the boundaries God has set always leads to straying from devotion to the Lord, from loyalty to Him. Your loyalty to God affects whether you will adorn yourself with godliness or with ungodliness.

Truth #1: Jesus deserves your loyalty.

• The moment you trust in Jesus Christ as your savior, you get a new life fused together with His and a new identity. You are now said to be in Christ, a Child of God, one of God’s saints, totally accepted and loved by Him.
• You are set free to live a radically different kind of life. And, in that freedom, you have a choice, “Who are you going to serve with your life now?” God or yourself?

Truth #2: Loyalty requires humility.

• In the New Testament, humility refers to how you think of yourself. It pictures a servant bowing before her master.
• Humility is associated with gentleness. Gentleness in the Bible carries the idea of strength under control. It is the outworking of humility and a work of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 11:28-29; Ephesians 4:1-2
• You choose humility before God by recognizing His authority over you. You are willing to trust God and accept His dealings with you as good without fighting Him on it.
• Humility is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest. It is recognizing that God has given you the genetics, intelligence, and opportunity to do some things well.

Truth #3: Humility leads to obedience.

• What good is a servant who refuses to obey? Or, who is out there trumpeting herself and her own will, and occasionally remembering to do what Jesus wants?
• When Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:11 that women should learn in quietness and full submission, he was referring to humility and obedience. God gave us women our gift of verbal communication. He expects our use of words to honor Him and teach about Him. But, sometimes, He wants us to be quiet and learn from others. The purpose for God’s command is to benefit others. It is not to demean women.
• What are some hindrances to our obedience? One is lack of understanding of God’s commands. Another hindrance is selectively choosing what we will obey. That leads us to being what the Bible describes as weak-willed women, always learning but never able to recognize truth for what it really is. Not seeing the ugliness of our sin also hinders obedience.
• Humility is the decision you make in your mind that you are not God, that Jesus is your master, and you serve Him by obedience to Him. That lead to a life that pleases Him.

Truth #4: Obedience offers protection.

• Obedience is necessary to protect yourself from those who distort the truth and draw you away from Jesus and His way of approaching life. Acts 20:28-31
• When you have humbled yourself before Jesus as your master and chosen to obey His commands revealed to you in the Bible, you will be able to recognize truth from anything that is distorted. But, when you resist the discipline that comes from obedience, you’re vulnerable to embracing whatever new teaching that comes along as a fad or a cultural adaptation, and you cannot recognize the truth when you see it.

Loyalty affects how you adorn yourself with godliness or with all those other options out there that offer nothing lasting. Jesus as Lord deserves our loyalty. Loyalty requires humility. Humility leads to obedience. And, obedience offers protection from being sucked into every wave of teaching that exalts the individual over God.

 

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with such love for God that you will want to live a life that pleases Him.

 

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