What the Bible Says About Being a Woman with Jen Oshman
Today Lauren Bowerman is chatting with Jen Oshman about what the Bible says about being a woman. Jen talks about God’s design and intent for women, his heart towards them, and the ways we see women dignified throughout Scripture. We hope this episode with Jen grows your love for Scripture and reminds you of the beauty of God’s intention in creating women and using women in his kingdom work. Find her newest book here.
Timestamps from the Conversation
04:57 – God's Original Design for Women
08:30 – How the Fall Affected Womanhood
14:56 – The Women of Scripture and Their Role in God's Mission
22:17 – Understanding Biblical Womanhood and Our Calling
25:35 – How Jesus Values and Dignifies Women
NOTES & QUOTES
“When God created Adam, he said it was not good that Adam was alone; that the image of God is expressed through men and women; that there was something lacking in Adam being by himself.”
“And so what we see in Genesis is this partnership, this calling to both men and women to be on mission together, to do these things together.”
“Women are necessary. The mission of God doesn't go forward without women.”
“Our creation [as women] was really dignified, really beautiful, an artistic, intimate, active affection on behalf of God, but also good and necessary so that humanity could go forward and do what God has called us to do.”
“I just love the heart of God where he looks at us with mercy, and he's like, ‘Yeah, you have really failed. You've broken our relationship. Things are going to be hard for you, but I'm not going to leave you there. I will send a Savior. He will come.’”
“I know we struggle with some of Paul's letters and what he says about women because we don't understand them. But as I said before, Scripture best interprets Scripture. So what if we held up Romans 16 next to these other passages that are hard to understand and go, ‘Okay, well, if this is how Paul thinks about Phoebe and Priscilla and Mary and Tryphina and Tryphosa and Pursus and Julia and it goes on and on. If this is true about how he partnered with them, trusted them, and saw the fruit of their labor in the church, then these other hard-to-understand passages need to come in alignment with that truth.’”
“The Proverbs 31 woman is the embodiment of wisdom. She's not someone we're meant to emulate. Of course, there are things to emulate there. But she is an example of wisdom. She is Lady Wisdom. She is the culmination of this whole book of poetry, going ‘Here's what wisdom looks.’ Not ‘Try harder and be her,’ but going, ‘Here's what's wise. Here's what's good. Here's what's beautiful. Here's what's true,’ but embodied in a female. Like, can we just pause for a minute and go, ‘The Lord chose to embody wisdom in a woman and put that on display for men and women alike to go, ‘Okay, here's what wisdom looks like’?”
“We really want a to-do list for being female. People are like, ‘Tell me what biblical femininity is so I can do it.’ And again, as you understand the entire story of Scripture and the whole counsel of God, what you find is there are very few gendered instructions in the Bible.”
“God just does not say very often, ‘Men be like this and women be like that.’ The vast majority of his instructions and commissions and commandments are for all of humanity.”
“Women were the only demographic who were present for Jesus's birth, his ministry, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. Women were present for all of that. And it reveals God's heart for women that women were invited in and women were drawn to Jesus for all of those portions of his life.”
“The relationship between Jesus and women is so powerful, so poignant, so intimate and affectionate. But it's something I think we lose sight of.”
“The life and death and resurrection of our Lord is a reminder of a couple of things. First and foremost, it's a reminder that Jesus stopped at nothing to make us his own. When I look at the cross, I'm reminded of how he gave everything to reconcile me to the Father. He saw my separation from our Holy Father, and Hebrews says, ‘for the joy set before him, he endured the cross’ so that I might be unified, I might be adopted, I might be made a sister in the family.”
“I don't have to do it all. I don't have to go out today and perform perfectly so that God approves of me. I don't have to get it all right. I can rest in him and, by his Spirit in me, live a life of abiding in him. But my approval of God and my membership in his family isn't determined by my performance today. And I think that's the best news.”
“What if you just crack open the Gospel of Luke, had a journal, a pen and paper, and every time you come across a story with women, really slow down and ask, ‘What is it saying about her? What are the implications of this woman's life and how God is relating to her in that?’”
RESOURCES
Very Good: What the Bible Says About Being a Woman by Jen Oshman
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Genesis 2
Genesis 3:15
Romans 16
Exodus 1:15–21
Proverbs 31
Luke 8:1-3
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Have you ever considered how Scripture speaks about women? How did hearing Jen’s exposition on women in Scripture impact how you view yourself as a woman?
How have you experienced the fall in ways that are specific to being a woman?
Do you feel cultural, societal, or spiritual pressure when it comes to your identity and worth as a woman? How so?
What passages, verses, or stories in Scripture help you to see your womanhood dignified? Consider memorizing or deeply studying one of those passages this week.
What might you do or implement based on what you learned in this week’s episode?
RECENT CONVERSATIONS
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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