The New Eve - Lewis Robert [12]
By decade's end Turner was gone, along with the greed that had swept through the ’90s. With the stock-market crash, religion was now on the rise, especially the evangelical kind. And so as if on cue, Jane morphed with the times. In the late ’90s it was reported she had found Jesus. Christians rejoiced. Unfortunately Turner made it clear he would have no part of a born-again Jane, so a divorce quickly ensued.
But Jane's evolution continued. By early 2005 she had come full circle and was protesting war again, this time America's involvement in Iraq. So where will she be next year? Who knows? But you can probably bet her life will center on whatever's popular at the moment.
Now I know Jane is an extreme example of this worldview. But I've seen worldliness do strange things to many people-Christian women included. This mind-set unleashes a deadly malignancy that undermines and compromises the purpose-driven life Christian women like yourself are meant to live. Without regular intake of God's Word to counteract this, your life will more than likely default back to worldly conformity. The magnetism of living for whatever's in is that seductive.
The New Eve Worldview
I chose this title rather than “Biblical Worldview” for a reason. Certainly not to discount the Bible. The New Eve worldview is biblical, but it is also specific to women. Women who embrace this worldview actively shape their lives around the Bible's gender-specific applications. In doing so, they become women who are more than “Christian” in name only. They go beyond being mere churchgoers who claim faith but whose choices, values, and lifestyles more closely reflect the nonbiblical worldviews previously discussed.
A New Eve takes God's Word seriously not just at church but in the everyday walk of life. She lets the Bible answer the big questions every woman needs to face. Questions like: What does it mean to be a woman? What should be my priorities as a woman? How do I balance my life? How do I avoid regrets? How do I please God? New Eves don't merely ask such questions. They find specific and practical answers and use them to color their choices, determine their life direction, and measure their progress. These answers become a fixed mind-set that builds for them a unique, fulfilling femininity void of many of the excesses and regrets that mark other worldviews.
Of course, you may be asking, Can a significant and satisfying twenty-first-century womanhood really be defined from Scripture? One that can apply to all women and yet not be guilty of cookie-cutter sameness that presses everyone into a common mold? One that will stay fresh even as you grow older? One that can guide you to the best in life? The answer is yes.
In the chapters that follow, you'll find five bold moves drawn from the Bible that help you, as a woman, define for yourself the best life possible. They are:
Live from the inside out.
Adopt a biblical definition of womanhood.
Embrace a big-picture perspective on life.
Live with the end in mind.
Use wisdom with a man.
These moves are not hard to understand, but they require boldness and courageous faith to activate. More importantly, they unleash the best of this life. They have worked this way in many women's lives, and they will work in yours as well. We'll unpack the first of these bold moves in chapter 4. But first let's look at the major issues women are struggling with today—issues these bold moves are meant to resolve.
3
What the Issues Are
To be good at counseling, you must have the ability to distinguish between issues and problems. That's a gift of insight most people don't possess. To them, issues and problems look and feel the same. They are not. In fact, they are as different as cause and effect. Problems are nothing more than “surface eruptions”—usually generated by a deeper, less apparent, unresolved issue.
For instance, you may have trouble relating to a certain individual in your family or social group. You fight. You don't get along.