"Godly Femininity and a Return to the Biblical Family" In the past 50 years, our culture has gone through radical changes.  As America departs further from the Christian-Judeo ethic upon which it was established, cynicism and lasciviousness have embittered the heart of our nation.  What was once considered feminine loveliness is scoffed at today.  Sensual lewdness is the order of the day, and its influence is seen in the immodest attire of pre-teens and even very young girls.  One has to wonder as young girls strut around under-clothed and overly made-up: “Where are their fathers?”  Good question.  Strong, father-led families are all but gone except in traditional, religious homes.  When fathers abdicated their roles as the leaders and protectors of their families, young men started calling on young girls without their father’s permission or involvement.  Modern day “dating” has replaced biblical courtship, and our young people are reaping the harmful consequences.   When fathers left their daughters unprotected, chivalry and respect for women took a sharp decline in our society.  The modern “dating game” is nothing but a dress rehearsal for divorce. Dating gives young people opportunities for sexual intimacy, only later to break up and repeat the cycle, further hardening their hearts and sabotaging the hope of ever achieving a lasting, monogamous marriage. Women have “toughened up.”  It is not politically correct to suggest that women have denied their femininity by embracing an androgynous womanhood.  Today, a feminist will glare at a man who is opening a door for her, as if he were insulting her capabilities rather than showing her respect.  Feminism is a backlash from men forfeiting their God-mandated responsibilities.  Men have increasingly not provided for, protected, led through serving and cherished their wives and children.  The pendulum has swung the other direction and the world is full of angry, disappointed women.   Unfortunately, because of the skyrocketing divorce rate in our country, women have had to become the sole breadwinners and compete in the job market to make ends meet to raise their children.  The seeds of bitterness have taken root in modern women and they have become what they have resented in selfish men:  fiercely competitive, aggressive, lewd, predatory and abandoning their children to be raised by others. This was not God’s design for marriage and family.  Only by returning to the biblical plan will men and women ever find peace and fulfillment. Woman was created totally different from man in form and temperament, yet she equally portrays the image of God.  “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them”  (Genesis 1: 27).  Women were created to reflect the nurturing, gentle facet of our Creator.  Men reflect the image of God by protecting, sacrificially loving and providing for their families.  Neither is superior to the other, but together, they complement one another and illustrate the oneness between Christ and His bride, the Church.  In our “dog-eat-dog” society, feminine qualities are considered “weak” and “inferior.”  What is considered traditional feminine character: gentleness, meekness, modesty, kindness, humility, graciousness, virtue and purity, are actually the attributes of the Holy Spirit, and there is nothing weak about God!  Conversely, many qualities that are considered “manly,” such as self-seeking ambition, aggression, competitiveness, and pride do not reflect the nature of God, but the carnal nature of fallen man.   Godly men exhibit the nature of God in leading and serving their families, and through their example of loving sacrifice instead of selfish tyranny:  “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it…”(Ephesians 5: 25).  The Bible admonishes the woman to place her value on her godly character rather than her physical attractiveness:  “Do not let your beauty be that outward adorning of arranging the hair, of wearing gold or of putting on fine apparel; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God”  (1 Peter 3: 3-4).  “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31: 30). Children reflect the glory of God (as well as the true condition of the home) by obeying their parents:  “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  ‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with a promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth”  (Ephesians 6: -3). God created the family before He created government or any other civil institution.  Marriage was created to portray the love and unity between Jesus Christ and His church.  “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.  This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.  Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband”  (Ephesians 5: 31-33).  Imagine the “little bit of heaven on earth” there would be if both husband and wife feared God enough to obey His word, and try to “out-love” and “out-serve” the other.  Imagine the strong, secure, happy children seeing God’s love exhibited daily between their parents.  Imagine the impact that one godly family whose lives are in order would have on a cynical, broken society.  What’s impossible with man is possible with God.  Selfishness and pride can only die at the cross, and God will give a new heart to those that are His, a tender, soft heart of flesh in exchange for a heart of stone. “The Pharisees came and asked Jesus, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ testing Him.  And He answered and said to them, ‘What did Moses command you?’  They said, ‘Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.’  And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.  But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.  For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”  (Mark 10: 2-9). “Love never fails”  (I Corinthians 13: 8).