This past Sunday, Melanie shared a sweet testimony and encouragement to all the ladies in the church. We’ve republished it here so that you can read it and be refreshed by God’s grace through her words.
Good morning, church! Titus 2:3-5 says “Older women... are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”
When I was thinking about what to share, I quickly realized that I could not share about this topic without talking about the woman who has had the most impact on my life: my mom. From my earliest memory, my mom has been a woman devoted to the Lord in every aspect of her life. I grew up watching her faithfully pursue Christ. She was and is today, a woman dedicated to prayer and the reading of the Word. And that love for the Lord infused everything she did. From cooking, to cleaning, to homeschooling my brother and I, to serving her local church body, to sacrificially and faithfully loving my dad, she did it all with so much joy and love. I cannot stand here and tell you about one impactful conversation where she taught me what it means to be a godly woman, wife, and mom, because there would simply be too many to recount. I cannot share how she implemented a 10-step discipleship program with me on how to be a woman of the word, because she never did. Rather, my mom made a lifelong investment in my spiritual development that began long before I was even born. By being devoted to the Word of God, living by example, serving her husband, loving her kids, standing upon her convictions, she in turn made an indelible mark on my life and taught me what it means to be a woman who loves God wholeheartedly. In every season of life, from singleness to then becoming a wife, and eventually a mother, I have looked to my mom for godly counsel and advice and I have strived to follow her example. She has not only poured wisdom out into my life through her words, but in how she has lived and continues to live out the gospel in her own life. She has indeed taught me how to “love my husband and children” as Titus 2 says, by her own example and sweet mentorship.
As I look around this room this morning, I can see so many sweet echoes of faithfulness lived out. I see women in every stage of life - grandmothers, mothers, wives, and single women - who are doing the very thing that my mom did for me: living exemplary lives marked by a genuine passion and joy for the Lord. And in doing that, in your relentless pursuit of Christ, you are making an impact on the lives of so many other women around you. I know this to be true because I have benefited from the fruit of your faithfulness. Whether through the encouraging words that so many of you have shared with me or simply through the beautiful example of your service to your families and to our church body, you have each played a role in mentoring me. I have walked through some difficult seasons in my almost 4 years at Sovereign Grace and in that time, I have felt such a sweet embrace from the women here. I am so grateful for all the times you have prayed for me, counseled me, brought meals, invited me into your homes, packed boxes with me, helped me clean my home, held my children, laughed with me, cried with me, loved me. I have learned so much from the older women, from the women walking beside me in the trenches of being a young mother and wife, and from the young single women in our church body. Your legacy, your friendship, and your steadfastness have blessed my life more than you can know.
So my encouragement for you today, no matter what stage or season you find yourself in as woman, is to continue to be faithful, continue to pursue Christ, continue to love the women God has placed in your life. Because you never know how your example and testimony, whether spoken or unspoken, are being used to mentor, encourage, and bless others around you.
