Every year my children started a new school year, I would wonder if I had adequately prepared them for what they would experience. When Jorja went off to college, I asked myself this question: WHAT WOULD BE THE TOP 7 THINGS I WOULD WANT MY DAUGHTER TO KNOW? Here’s what the Lord and I came up with:
1. She is loved. She was created out of love. God the creator, made her, so that He could love her and she could love Him. He made her His masterpiece, created for a very specific purpose. He will help her discover that purpose as she keeps her heart and mind set on Him. In love, He will be with her, care for her, guide her, and make her the person He created her to be; and there, she will find great fulfillment and make major impact in her world.
2. She is beautiful. The measure of a woman is not based on bust size, hair color, or how many boy’s heads she can turn; nor is it based on athleticism, artistry, or academics. A woman is truly a woman when she knows who God made her to be and she will stop at nothing but sin to fulfill the purposes for which she was created. She keeps her eyes focused on the Lover of her soul and keeps her hand in His. For “those who look to Him are radiant.” Psalm 34:5
3. She is unique. She is not striving to be a copy of another but recognizes her uniqueness as distinctively beautiful. She mimics no one. She is determined to blaze her own trail. She echoes no one but loudly proclaims her specialness and offers it freely to the world. She continues to put herself out there, offering new ideas, and creativity even in the face of examination and criticism. And she does this day after day because she knows that she was put here to make a memorable contribution to her world.
4. She is smart. Wisdom is defined as one who seeks knowledge, then takes it and puts it into practice to benefit others. Wisdom, in the book of Proverbs, has a voice, and that voice is feminine. She must know that as she listens to truth and combines it with courage and a heart for positive change, there is nothing she can’t accomplish. She must know that she must not keep silent but let wisdom guide her in making choices with honesty, integrity, and compassion.
5. She is gutsy. She is willing to take risks. And not just any risk, but risks that she has thought long and hard with regard to their consequences. Not immature risks, but rather brave leaps of faith that are so big that they can only be accomplished if God is in the center of it. When others won’t give it a try, she is willing to invest her time, talents, money, and energy to something she truly believes in. She risks in relationships because she believes the best in and for people. She remains hopeful even when let down, because she is convinced that it is better to risk than to never risk at all. She knows that God’s perfect, never failing, never abandoning love is bigger than her fear; therefore, instead of being paralyzed in her fear, she allows fear to propel her to do something she would otherwise never do. Her risks change the world.
6. She is heartsy. She must know to think of others. She must have compassion for the least of these, the last to be noticed, and the lost who need to be found. She must think beyond herself, mindful of those who are hurting in the world around her. When she sees, she is to act with whatever means she has available, to serve and help. She brings love, laughter, and life everywhere she goes. She may wear her heart on her sleeve, but that’s where she lets people lay their heads.
7. She is God’s. She knows who she is because she knows Whose she is. She knows how adored she is by her Maker, her Lover, and her Friend. She knows how jealously He longs to have her total attention and affection, and she freely and passionately offers it in worship, through every aspect of her life. She knows that she was bought with a precious price and therefore honors God with her body, making herself a living sacrifice, as the least she can do for what He has done for her. She is His and He is her’s, all her’s……forever.
If we can raise up our daughters to be like this, they will make the greatest impact in the Great Commission because they will be walking with God, finding fulfillment as they live out their destiny, and taking others with them.
These are the future women leaders who others want to follow.
This is what our daughters MUST know!
This year, and for the years to come, find creative ways to tell them…..every day.
What do you think? What else would you add?