This rings so true for me in my life right now. My mom and I had TWO converstaions this past weekend about my covering and dressing modestly. It appears that the more and more I am convicted that this is what the Lord wants for me to do, the more and more she is against it. It is not that I am wearing one more around the house, because I have done my best to be respectful of my parent's wishes and not wearing a covering in their house. I even told my mom that; that I am feeling torn between obeying their wishes for me not to wear a covering in the house and obeying the Lord. She turned right around saying "this is not about obeying the Lord, this is about YOU being different!" She believes that I am doing this because I am an "Amish wanna-be". I told her that I agreed with some of their beliefs, but I certainly do not believe with all of them and that if she wants to call me a wanna-be then so be it but my thoughts are my own, they are not "forced" upon me by anyone else.
Besides that, she also is firm in her belief that women were created to walk beside man because that's what "her" Bible says. Her Bible is NIV. She resents the fact that I have resorted to using my NKJV Bible after being raised with the NIV. I had to get my NKJV for a college course I took in the summer of 2006 and I didn't use it for a while, but then last January I started using it more and then switched to it completely by last May. I believe that we were created as a companion for man, but that God created man first for a reason. He is to be the "president" of the house and the wife is to be the "vice president". I like that analogy because it does not make it seem that the household is a dictatorship like some think of when thinking of submission, but rather it shows that it is a co-run house. Not many young women understand the concept of submission which does not surprise me at al. We have been raised in a feminist generation; raised to think that we are independent of all man and can do anything we want - ANYTHING.
How else are Christians persecuted in today's world? How are YOU persecuted?
Blessings in Christ,
I've been right where you are, Dear Chelsea, in that my mom - who is my best friend - was my worst enemy of covering. She told me I looked terrible, like a cleaning lady, etc, etc, despite that fact that I tried to honor her in what style I wore (she doesn't like the "doily" look). She also would bring up and accuse me of being a hypocrite if I disagreed with her about anything...It was a very rough time, to be quite honest.
ReplyDeleteOne good thing that came of it, though, is that the Lord drove home the importance of praying for and thoroughly discussing the issue with any young man that would be interested in marrying me. I'm now married to a wonderful, Godly man who supports my wearing a covering, although he does love to see my hair down once in a while :)
Another very interesting point you made, is how deeply an impact the translation of Bible you use can have on this issue. I will leave that there :)
Remember - it is TRIALS that build character. If you haven't been there yourself, you have NOTHING to say to those having a hard time.
God's riches Blessings to you!
Love from a Sister,
Bethany