The Glory of Femininity

Genesis 1:26–28 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 2:18–23 ESV

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Introduction

In my previous sermon, I mentioned that in our day, masculinity is being assaulted from all sides, more than any time in history it would seem. It is also true that femininity is under attack in our day, maybe even more so than masculinity. I mentioned that the enemy of our souls, the great deceiver, hates God’s design and God’s image, which means he hates humanity most of all. He is hell-bent on destroying our race by any means necessary. The two major strategies he uses in his assault on men is Faux-masculinity and effeminacy. Faux masculinity perverts natural masculine virtues and behaviors, while effeminacy replaces them all together with feminine ones.

Likewise, there are two major strategies the enemy uses in his assault on women: feminism and faux-femininity. Feminism replaces feminine virtues and behaviors with masculine ones. Faux Femininity twists or waters down feminine virtues and behaviors. Lets analyze these two ditches before we get on the road of true femininity.

Feminism

Feminism is a broad term and can be tricky to define since there are varying schools of thought within the movement.

Women who seek to be totally autonomous to such a degree that they don’t respect the leadership of their husbands or fathers.

Women who treat their fertility as a disease to be treated instead of a gift to enjoy and steward.

Women who despise family, marriage and homemaking

Women who act like men, talk like men, and dress like men.

And of course, the ultimate example of the perversion that is feminism is lesbianism.

Faux-Femininity or Chauvinism

Much like Faux-masculinity, faux-femininity takes feminine virtues and behaviors and waters them down or twists them to evil ends. This can be seen in the following:

Barbie-doll women who exists to be pretty accessories, spending all their time shopping, getting their nails done, and drinking lattes with their girlfriends.

Stay-at-home moms who think that “homemaking” just means cooking meals and cleaning the house.

Single women who think they can’t really be feminine because they are not wives or mothers.

Women who think that true femininity means being timid, ignorant, homely, and never speaking their mind.

The common thread between all of the examples I just gave is that all of those women have a weak, watered down view of what it means to be a woman. They are too simple, too boring, too easy, and misleading. And I am afraid that many conservative women have this view.

FOUR ASPECTS OF TRUE FEMININITY

Women are designed to be the following:

Ladies

Lifegivers

Helpers

Glorifiers

Women as Ladies

When I say women are “ladies”, it isn’t redundant. The term “lady” is actually the female version of “lord”. To be a lady is to be a female lord. This can seem strange at first to conservative Christians who understand that God calls women to be gentle and submissive to their own husbands. But we need to be whole-Bible Christians, which means we need to look at all that Bible has to say about femininity. And one of the things women are designed for is to take dominion and subdue the world, alongside and in cooperation with men. We learn this from Genesis 1:

Genesis 1:26–28 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Notice that both men and women are called to be fruitful, multiply, fill, subdue and have dominion. Also notice that none of these things can be done by man alone or by woman alone, but only by men and women working together. There are unique things that men bring to the table and unique things that women bring to the table and only together can we do what needs to be done.

And this is precisely where feminism and fake femininity go wrong: feminism acts as if men and women are interchangeable, which completely flattens and destroys the harmony between the sexes that we see in Genesis. Fake femininity tends to put all the focus on the men and act as if the only thing women are needed for is to have babies so there can be more men in the world.

But the Biblical view is that God wants the world filled with both men and women because both men and women contribute to the goodness and beauty of the world.

The Question of Authority

A natural question then is how do we square the command for women to subdue and have dominion with the command for women to be submissive?

First of all, the Bible never calls women as a sex to be submissive to men as a sex. Instead, God calls wives to be submissive to their own husbands.

1 Peter 3:1 ESV

1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,

In other words, an individual woman should not look at an individual man and act as if he is somehow her superior or authority. He is not. Only her husband is. Or her father if she is a young woman who is not yet married.

Second of all, a wife who follows her husband’s leadership is not ipso-facto relegated to the rank of servant or slave. I am afraid some view it this way. They act as if a wife has to get her husbands permission for everything. He is the boss man and she is the little secretary who follows the long task list he has given her for the day. No, this is not God’s design. Instead, I want you to imagine a king who rules a little kingdom. No good and wise king would ever dream of ruling his kingdom without help. Good kings have always had governors or dukes or some other authoritative officer to help him govern his kingdom. A good king entrusts these people with authority and doesn’t micromanage them. He lets them have at it and do what they do best. In the same way, a husband is the king of his home, but the wife is his queen. She is royalty too. This is her domain too. She has things she is skilled at that her husband is not. And he would be foolish to try to manage those things. Instead, a wise husband lets his wife do what she does best and doesn't get in her way.

The husband is most certainly the authority, which means a wife should never seek to compete with or challenge her husband’s leadership. To do so would be disrespectful. At the same time, a good and wise husband will seek his wife’s counsel, try to reach an agreement, and even defer to his wife’s decisions on some matters, especially when it pertains to things in her domain.

How does a woman exercise dominion?

If you are a single woman, the way you exercise dominion is going to look different than a married woman. In fact, it looks different for each and every woman. There is no one-size-fits all approach. And that is important to remember: God didn’t lay out a step-by-step plan for every choice we are supposed to make. He gave us liberty and he gave us brains so that we can figure these things out for ourselves using sanctified common sense. And I think this is often the point missing. Conservatives like us tend to focus on what women can’t do, instead of what they can do. To be sure, there are certain things that would be inappropriate for a woman to do, just as there are things inappropriate for a man to do.

True femininity requires hard-work

Fake-femininity and chauvinism have a tendency to portray womanhood as mediocre and not very challenging. Just check the box on the list of chores, make sure everyone is fed, and make yourself available for your husband every once in a while. But this flies in the face of the ideal woman that Scripture portrays.

Proverbs 31:10–31 describes a woman who is industrious, entrepreneurial, physically strong, economically productive, generous, wise, and fearless. She buys fields, plants vineyards, runs household enterprises, teaches wisdom, and prepares her family for the future.

Biblical femininity is not passive. It is energetic, demanding, and ambitious in the best sense of the word.

WOMEN AS LIFEGIVERS

One of the most fundamental truths about womanhood is that women are lifegivers. This is not a cultural construct or a social accident—it is woven into creation itself. From the moment God created woman, He designed her to be a channel through which life is received, sustained, and multiplied. This lifegiving calling operates in at least two distinct but interconnected ways: physically and relationally.

1. Physical Lifegivers

The most obvious and undeniable expression of a woman’s lifegiving nature is her body. Scripture explicitly ties womanhood to the transmission of life. After the fall, Adam names his wife Eve:

Genesis 3:20 ESV

20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Women are uniquely formed to bear children, nourish them, and sustain their early life. Through pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing, women participate in God’s creative work in a way no man ever can. Every child is a living testimony that God uses the body of a woman to bring an eternal soul into the world.

This is why Scripture treats childbearing with such gravity and honor. The pain of childbirth is real, but it is not meaningless. It is bound up with glory.

This does not mean that a woman’s worth is reduced to reproduction, nor does it deny the dignity of childless or single women. Rather, it underscores that God has inseparably linked womanhood with the preservation and nurture of life.

Women are also physical lifegivers through caretaking. From infancy to old age, women tend to the vulnerable with patience, attentiveness, and endurance. This explains why women are so often drawn to caregiving vocations—nursing, midwifery, and elder care. These are not accidental trends; they reflect a God-given aptitude for sustaining embodied life.

Scripture praises this kind of work, even when it goes unnoticed:

Luke 16:10 ESV

10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

Feeding children, tending wounds, watching over the sick, and maintaining a household are not menial tasks; they are acts of quiet faithfulness that keep the world alive.

2. Relational Lifegivers

But women are not only lifegivers physically—they are lifegivers relationally. God has given women an extraordinary ability to breathe life into others through words, presence, and care. Just as women nurture bodies, they also nurture hearts and souls.

Scripture repeatedly highlights the power of a woman’s words:

Proverbs 18:21 ESV

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Proverbs 31:26 ESV

26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

Encouragement from a woman has a unique potency. A wife can either fortify her husband’s courage or slowly drain his strength. A mother’s words shape the emotional and spiritual landscape of her children. Older women, as Titus 2 teaches, are called to train younger women, passing down wisdom that stabilizes families and preserves the church (Titus 2:3–5).

Hospitality is another vital expression of relational lifegiving. When a woman opens her home, she creates a space where people are fed, known, and restored. Scripture consistently links hospitality with godliness:

Romans 12:13 ESV

13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

A meal, a listening ear, a welcoming home—these are not small things. They are means by which God knits people together and sustains community.

Life That Reflects God

Ultimately, women’s lifegiving nature reflects something of God Himself. God is the source of all life, and women are His appointed stewards of life in both body and relationship. When women embrace this calling, they stand in direct opposition to a culture of death, isolation, and despair.

Women participate in this mission in profoundly ordinary—and therefore profoundly powerful—ways. By giving life, sustaining life, and restoring life in others, women quietly advance the kingdom of God. Where women faithfully live as lifegivers, families endure, churches remain healthy, and hope continues from one generation to the next.

This is not incidental to God’s plan. It is essential.

WOMEN AS HELPERS

One of the clearest and most contested truths about womanhood in Scripture is this: women are created to be helpers. This truth comes directly from the creation account and is therefore not a result of the fall, not a cultural accident, and not a temporary arrangement.

The Helper Created by God

Genesis 2:18 sets the stage:

Genesis 2:18 ESV

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

This is the first time in creation that God declares something to be “not good.” Adam has work to do. He has authority. He has purpose. And yet, something essential is missing. God does not say Adam lacks intelligence, strength, or direction—he lacks a helper fit for him.

God then parades the animals before Adam. Adam names them, exercising dominion and discernment, but among all of them there is no suitable helper. The point is deliberate: nothing else in creation can fulfill this role. Only a woman can.

When God finally creates the woman from Adam’s own body and brings her to him, Adam erupts in poetry:

Genesis 2:23 ESV

23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

The helper is not a subordinate creature; she is Adam’s equal in dignity, yet distinct in nature and role.

Helper Does Not Mean Inferior

The word “helper” is often misunderstood. Biblically, help does not imply inferiority. In fact, Scripture frequently uses the same word to describe God Himself:

Hebrews 13:6 ESV

6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

God is not inferior to man, yet He is called a helper. The issue is not worth, but function.

Think of a football team: no position exists for its own sake. Each role contributes to the whole. A quarterback may be important, but without linemen, receivers, and defenders, the game is lost. Importance is shared; responsibility differs.

So when Scripture calls woman a helper, it dignifies her role rather than diminishing it.

woman made for man, not man for woman

At the same time, help does imply that the woman is not commander-in-chief. Genesis establishes order: Adam is created first, given the command first, and entrusted with naming. The woman is created for him—not because he is better, but because leadership and help are complementary roles.

This order carries into marriage:

Ephesians 5:23 ESV

23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

In marriage, the husband leads and the wife helps. This does not mean the wife is silent, passive, or disengaged. It means she strengthens, supports, and advances her husband’s calling rather than competing with it.

The same principle applies more broadly in society. God has generally ordered men toward leadership and women toward support and cultivation. This is not arbitrary. Instead, it flows from God’s sovereign design. This is how He made the world.

The Nature of a Woman’s Help

God has uniquely equipped women for this role.

Women tend to excel at:

Organization

Attention to detail

Anticipating needs

Managing rhythms, people, and environments

These gifts are not accidental. They are precisely what leadership requires in order to succeed. A woman often sees what a man misses—not because she is smarter, but because she is wired differently.

This means a wife should not resent her husband’s weaknesses. The very existence of weaknesses is assumed by God’s design. A helper is only necessary where help is needed.

That said, this does not excuse male laziness or irresponsibility. A man is still accountable before God for his leadership. But—and this is crucial—a woman is not called to withhold help until her husband becomes worthy of it.

The Power of Constructive Help

Here is a principle wives must understand deeply: you will never change a man for good by tearing him down.

Scripture confirms this wisdom:

Proverbs 15:4 ESV

4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

Proverbs 12:4 ESV

4 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.

A wife has immense power. She can either strengthen her husband’s spine or slowly crush it. Respect, encouragement, and faithful help do more to sanctify a man than nagging, contempt, or constant criticism ever could.

Peter even tells wives that their conduct—not constant correction—can win disobedient husbands:

1 Peter 3:1 ESV

1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,

Helping is not weakness. It is strategic strength. It is patient, long-term, faith-filled labor that trusts God to bring growth in His time.

WOMEN AS GLORIFIERS

The last aspect of true femininity that we will consider is this: women glorify things wherever they are placed. They take what is raw, chaotic, or unfinished and transform it into something ordered, beautiful, and life-giving.

How Women Glorify

Women glorify God and those under their care by cultivating beauty, order, and refinement.

A woman can take a shabby bachelor pad—bare walls, mismatched furniture, and chaos—and turn it into a home. Not merely a place where people live, but a place where people are welcomed, rested, and nourished. This instinct to humanize space is not trivial; it reflects God’s own work in creation, bringing order out of chaos (Genesis 1:2).

A woman can take raw ingredients—flour, vegetables, meat—from a garden or grocery store and turn them into a nourishing and delightful meal.

This is glory through transformation—making something greater than the sum of its parts.

Women also glorify through formation. They take grubby boys and wild girls and, through discipline, instruction, affection, and example, shape them into gentlemen and ladies. This is not merely behavior management; it is character formation. Mothers, more than anyone else, give texture and tone to a child’s soul.

Women also glorify through personal presentation. Scripture does not despise women tending to their appearance. Hair, clothing, and adornment are not condemned; they are simply not to be idolized. When ordered by modesty and wisdom, a woman’s outward beauty becomes an extension of inward glory rather than a substitute for it.

Women Glorify Because They Are Glory

Paul states something astonishing in 1 Corinthians 11:7

1 Corinthians 11:7 ESV

7 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.

This does not mean women are less than men. It means they are more refined in their purpose. If man represents God’s authority and action, woman represents God’s beauty and splendor reflected in humanity.

She is the most potent glory in the whole world, not the least.

If man is the crown of creation, woman is the crown of the crown—the diamond affixed to it. She completes the picture. She brings radiance to what would otherwise be merely functional.

This is why women are the most glorious part of creation—not because they rule, but because they adorn; not because they dominate, but because they elevate.

Glory Through Humility, Not Domination

This glory does not authorize women to seize authority or exert dominion over men. In fact, the very reason women are so glorious is because of their humility, gentleness, and submission. Their strength is not loud. Their influence is not coercive. Their power is formative.

Peter connects glory directly to character:

1 Peter 3:4 ESV

4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

A woman’s glory shines brightest when it flows through obedience to God’s design rather than rebellion against it.

Christ: The Supreme Pattern of Glory

Ultimately, femininity finds its meaning in Christ Himself. Jesus is the most glorious being who has ever walked the earth—and His glory is inseparable from His humility.

Philippians 2:5–11 teaches us that Christ did not grasp at power, but emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, and humbled Himself unto death. Therefore, God highly exalted Him.

Glory follows humility. Exaltation follows obedience.

Women reflect Christ most clearly not when they imitate masculine authority, but when they imitate Christlike humility. Their glory does not diminish through submission—it intensifies.

Conclusion

Women are subduers by design.

They are lifegivers by design.

They are helpers by design.

They are glorifiers by design.

I pray that your view of women is not watered-down as the chauvinists would have it and not perverted and replaced as the feminists would have it. Femininity is glorious because made it so.