The Right Kind of Strong

She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. Strength and dignity are her clothing – Proverbs 31:17, 25

I’ve never been one to be a radical feminist. Back when the feminist women’s movement started, the phrase “I am woman, hear me roar” was the mantra. I’ve been more a “I am woman, get my door” yet I feel like I see myself as a strong woman. I’ve managed large teams during my career and can be opinionated at times. But what does the Bible say about strength?

By far the strongest godly woman I’ve ever known was my Mom. She was such an example to me in how she navigated life’s circumstances with grace and strength. She modeled the verses in Proverbs 31. Even at her death, she displayed strength I can’t even fathom. To have her kind of strength is what I long for.

The first step of being a godly strong woman is believing in Jesus Christ. And along with the spiritual disciplines of Bible study, prayer, etc, there are other habits that can be developed to build up your godly muscles. We’ll be recapping the book “The Right Kind of Strong” by Mary Kassian in the coming weeks. You can purchase your own copy to read along or simply follow the recaps here.

Some women in the church of Ephesus were weak. Paul warned Timothy about ungodly people who would “creep into households and capture weak women.” (2 Timothy 3:6) The greek word used for woman is the feminine noun “gynaikes”, but Paul called these women “gynaikarion.” The suffix “karion” is diminutive, which means when it is added to the end of a word it indicates a lesser version of the original root.

Let’s be clear that Paul wasn’t a chauvinist or misogynist who didn’t view women as equals. Paul had many close friends who were strong women. In fact, his letters mention twelve woman by name who worked with him in gospel ministry.

Chloe – She brought Paul the news of division within the Corinthian church (I Corinthians)
Nympha – She was the woman who hosted the house church in Laodicea (I Corinthians)
Apphia – She was the hostess to the Colossian church (Philemon)
Lydia – Well-known businesswoman who engaged in the lucrative trade of purple cloth. Her home also become operation central for Paul and Silas’ ministry in Phillipi (Acts 16)
Phoebe – She carried and delivered Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul described her as a minister of the church in Cencrea and as a patron. Being a patron was an influential public role that wealthy women held in Greco-Roman times (Romans 16)
Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Persis – All of these were strong women whom Paul gave praises for working very hard to forward the gospel. (Romans 16)
Euodia and Syntyche – Two strong forces that constantly clashed. Paul encouraged them to work through their issues and get along. (Phillipians 4)
Priscilla – She was part of the powerhouse duo of Priscilla and Aquilla. They were both tentmakers and helped Paul establish a church. They were instrumental in Paul’s ministry and traveled with him on his evangelistic journey as far as Ephesus (Acts 18)

Let’s take a look at the city of Ephesus, where Paul first instructed Timothy of these weak women. Ephesus was a metropolitan city, much like our cities of Atlanta, Chicago, or Los Angeles. It was a very wealthy city and housed the temple of Artemis. In Asia Minor, it was the primary banking and real-estate holding institution.

It was said through ancient lore that Ephesus was founded by great Amazon female warriors and watched over by Artemis, a female deity. Women played a significant role in this city. They could work in just about every profession, aside from soldier or Roman senator. Many middle and upper class women owned businesses.

The moral beliefs of Ephesus were diverse and extremely pluralistic. Greek, Roman and other ethnic and cultural backgrounds were present and most people chose the gods they would serve. Clearly Paul was exposed to the lack of strong spiritual women in this city.

Mary Kassian will take us through seven habits we can work on in order to strengthen our godly muscles. Here are the seven danger areas:

She tolerates creeps (“creep into households”)
She fails to guard her mind (“capture”)
She lets things pile up (“burdened with sins”)
She’s governed by emotions (“led astray by various passions”)
She doesn’t apply what she learns (“always learning and never able to arrive”)
She doesn’t have solid convictions (“knowledge of the truth”)
She embraces the wrong kind of strong (“weak women”)

How do we overcome those dangers?

Catch the creeps
Master the mind
Ditch the baggage
Engage your emotions
Walk the talk
Stand your ground
Admit your need

There are plenty of popular songs today that teach us that being a strong woman is vital to survival. Songs that stress being bold, brave, and strong. Those qualities aren’t bad, but the culture tells us that we should avoid weakness at all costs. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

We don’t have to forgo our femininity and deny who we are as women to remain strong. Often when we’re headstrong we aren’t brave, but rash. We may think we’re bold when really we’re aggressive. Our confidence may be what we see as a quality when really we’re arrogant in our behavior. We may seem independent when we’re really standoffish. Our intellect may really simply be foolish at times. God wants women to be strong in the right kind of way.

If you want to read the Scriptures where this book and our recaps will live, read 1 and 2 Timothy. We’ll primarily focus in 2 Timothy, but both letters are to Timothy from Paul while he was at the church in Ephesus. And, reading Ephesians will also bring context to the weak women Paul referred to in his letters to Timothy.

God doesn’t want weaklings. One of my all-time favorite movies is Steel Magnolias. I think that is somewhat a picture of a strong, godly woman. A soft feminine woman with a fire in her belly, courage in her heart, and steel in her spine. Let’s read what the Bible says and Mary’s insights to truly learn how to be the right kind of strong.

-by Rose Booth