Day 33. His and Hers

1 Timothy 2:8-10

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; ⁹ likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, ¹⁰ but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.

Boys are from Mars & Girls are from Venus. No just kidding.

From the beginning, God created man and made woman from man's side. She was from him, beside him, with him, as a compliment and completion. God made Adam intending him to lead by submitting to God with his beloved wife Eve at his side. What a nice picture. Eve was perfect for Adam, she was desirable. Think about this Boys. As we come of age we have this desire to find a woman, one we can pursue, one who will receive our interest, one who is desirable. But, as Christians our first pursuit is always to please our Master, Jesus Christ. So we must be obedient to God in every other pursuit as well. Girls, your turn. You probably have that deep down desire too, for a strong loving man who makes you feel wanted, you desires you. Where does this come from? Simple, you were made this way. And, God in his goodness made the PERFECT place for all these desires to be fulfilled. It is called marriage. Problem is we have this pesky sin nature. We are tempted to try to fulfill these desires through our own ideas and pursuits and fail to pursue God’s will in faith in the process.

Now we will find in our passage 2 general principles to help us pursue these desires properly.

Men: “Pray, lifting holy hands”

This is an act of dependence and submission. Dependence in prayer is vital for every Christian man. When we are depending on God by making petitions and requests, we are aware of our desires. Think about it men, if you know your desires are out of line, are you really going to go to God and ask him to fulfill them? No way. Dependence in prayer does something else for us. It cures our anxiety and anxiousness. Restless wanderers need to find rest. But Paul says if we present our requests to God he will guard our hearts with His peace. Men we can’t go out into the world looking for ways to satisfy our hearts, instead we must go out into the world with hearts satisfied in Christ. With dependence comes submission. To submit means to be subjected to another authority. This does not come naturally to us men! By the grace of God and the Holy Spirit's power in us as believers we can submit to the the commands of Christ. Submit to Jesus and depend on him to meet your needs today.

Ladies: “adorn yourselves … with what is proper”

Paul instructs Timothy to tell women of faith not to get all glammed up. Why the buzz kill on our style points Paul? Think about this. After Adam and Eve sinned, they needed to be covered. They realized their nakedness and felt shame. First fig leaves, then animal skins were applied. Do you realize that the very reason we wear clothing is that we have shame in nakedness? If clothing came because of shame, does it make sense to have pride and vanity in what we are wearing? I think this is the crux of Paul’s instruction. Don’t be self-absorbed. Don’t be desirable for the wrong reasons like showing a little skin here or raising the hem a little higher or spending all your time looking perfect. Instead be desirable through your good works like loving others, compassion for the weak, serving others, teaching and sharing your faith. These are desirable qualities in a beautiful godly woman. These are the qualities that men who are dependent and submitted will be looking for, so be desirable.