What Kind of Woman Are You?: A Woman of God

By toni kendrick

Everyone needs help if they are trying to live a Christ-centered life. The bible is the guidebook for doing that, but its volume and structure can be difficult to understand. What Kind of Woman Are You? is a contemporary reading of scriptures designed to guide women toward contented and meaningful lives. The bible was written to help people who are seeking a better life. The virtues of being pure, peace-loving, gentle, submissive, merciful, fruitful, impartial and sincere are listed in James 3:17 as stepping-stones toward true godly living. Such a list may be challenging or unappealing. But, as you learn the value of these virtues, you will begin to see how necessary they are to a Christ-centered life. What Kind of Woman Are You? is designed to encourage women to make more thoughtful choices, to adopt healthier attitudes, and to practice more effective behaviors so that you can be the kind of woman you were meant to be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490854397

toni kendrick

Toni Kendrick is a Christian woman with a strong commitment to living a full life shaped by the tenets of the bible. Born and raised in Chicago, now living in Charlotte, North Carolina and married for over 40 years, Toni believes her life’s journey is stronger, more meaningful, and joyous because she recalibrates her contemporary values and routines with the doctrines set down in the bible. This practice has given her a life of unimaginable grace.

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 toni kendrick .

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-5438-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-5439-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014918067

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/30/2014

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

1 Wisdom

2 Pure

3 Peace-loving

4 Gentle

5 Submissive

6 Mercy and Good Fruit

7 Impartial

8 Sincere

Benediction

Study Guide

Dedication

I dedicate this effort to my lovely, spirit-filled mother, Wilhelmenia Moore, and to the original spiritual giant in both of our lives, my grandmother, Elmira Bowman McDaniel. Both of these women unfailingly offered me examples of how I might be a woman of God. Both offered me many words of encouragement down through the years until I began to feel strong in my Christian walk. It is my hope that in sharing my journey, it will help other Christian women find the strength they need to follow the word of God beyond what they can see; beyond what they know; to a deep and meaningful life in Christ. We must live by faith knowing that God honors the faithful and those who have a heart to be women of God.

A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised - Proverbs 31: 30b

Introduction

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.

When I became a (woman), I put childish things behind me.

1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV

Okay, I admit it - I am a mature woman! It has taken me years to admit this, mainly because our society is slightly scornful of mature people. But, in my heart I delight in being mature. I don’t have the angst I suffered as a young woman. I don’t feel swept along with anything I don’t embrace just because it’s popular. I don’t feel the need to prove myself or explain myself to each and every person who may misunderstand me. I feel strong and peaceful, and yet open to learning and experiencing whatever life brings into my grasp. It is a wonderful state of mind. However, I do feel the need to share my journey because it has been rich in experiential lessons that have brought me to this state of contentment and joy. And what you must know first and foremost is that the most important part of this journey has been my relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. In my relationship with Christ I believe my responsibility, as a mature woman, is to offer guidance to younger women in their journey.

So, why do I ask the question, What kind of woman are you? Because it is an important question, one that each woman should ask herself. You might ask it when you see some behavior in yourself or in others that you don’t like, or maybe when you see a behavior that you do like. You might ask it when you see how people interact with you and that interaction makes you wonder what that person thinks of you. Are you what people see? Are you able to project the kind of woman you know yourself to be? When someone describes you or one of your characteristics, are you tempted to amend the statement in some way, feeling uncomfortable with their description? When a person is confident and purposeful they strive to find wholeness in their life, in their endeavors, and in their relationships. Therefore it is an important question for each woman to ask herself so that she can discover who she is and determine how she wants to live.

Recently I have been watching some reality TV programs with casts of women from various parts of the country and from different social and economic backgrounds. My husband has been baffled as to why I have been watching these programs but I have been studying these women. What the viewers see may not be absolutely real or accurate, but I believe some of what we are witnessing in these sundry lives is true. The popularity of these programs indicates that these shows are touching the viewers in some significant way - maybe a reflection of their lives or how they interact with others. What is very striking to me is the animosity and lack of compassion that exists between the cast members. I ask myself, why? What is missing in these relationships that makes them so volatile and toxic? I believe the underlying issue that contributes to the breakdown in these relationships is a lack of self-worth and confidence.

While this is not a book about TV personalities and situational programs, what I am addressing are basic principles that govern a person’s belief about themselves and thus the behaviors that attend to that belief. People do not always receive the kind of love and nurturing in their childhood that will allow them to offer wholesome love and compassion to others. But it is still possible. It is possible to become ‘whole’ and loving, nurturing and forgiving, kind and charitable even when you have not received those things, or those things have not been modeled for you by parents or caregivers. So when you ask yourself, What kind of woman are you? You have the opportunity to embody those things that you think are desirable, even if you have no experience with them. When you ask that question, you also have the opportunity to critically view undesirable traits that are present in your character. You can’t change what you don’t see or refuse to acknowledge.

In my personal quest to answer that question I found that I needed a standard that was possible for me to embrace and to achieve. While I had a wonderful mother and she modeled wholesome love and compassion to me and to others, I still needed a guidebook for my quest to become the kind of woman I thought I wanted to be. I decided I wanted to be a woman of God. A woman whose behavior, traits, ambitions and expressions were molded by the tenets of God in the bible. I choose this path and have lived on it for over 40 years. It has been the right path. I have circumvented certain disasters and walked successfully through others. I have helped some folks and hurt others. I have been happy and sad, good and bad, peaceful and frustrated. In other words, I have had a totally human experience but it has been more blessed than I can ever say and that is because of the gift that God has given to me, to all who desire it. God’s word offers us a pattern, a guide, a formula for being a woman and by following it, you will have the best life possible.

If you desire to be a woman of God, what I am offering you are some encouragements, some experiences and some insights that have illuminated my life journey. If they help you, then I will be fulfilling my current mandate from God, which is to share his goodness with as many people as possible. So here it is …

What Kind of Woman Are You?

A Woman of God