Set Apart Femininity

"What is the secret to great living? Entire separation to Christ and devotion to Him. Thus speaks every man and woman whose life has made more than a passing flicker in the spiritual realm. It is the life that has no time for trifling that counts."  Amy Carmichael

We spoke before about the need for a return to virtuous womanhood in the way we raise our daughters, but the following message is something which every young girl should hear.  This message, "Set Apart Femininity" is from Leslie Ludy of Set Apart Girl as she talks about the importance for young girls to understand what it means to be set apart for Jesus Christ.

This is an important & precious message for both young and older women alike!

• It is very easy in American culture - even for Christian young women - to get caught up in trivial pursuits that are not of eternal value.
• You can grow up in a Christian home, know all the right "Christian" answers, look like the perfect "Christian" girl, and still have a life that is all about you.
• The question in true Christianity is not, "How far can I go to the edge of the cliff before it is considered sin?"  It is, "How far can I go to glorify God, bring honor to His name, get closer to Him, and let others see His life through me?"
• Until Jesus is the center of our existence and we become passionate about Him as our first love, then our lives will never work.
• For many people, the reason we do not feel close to God is because we are not searching for Him with our whole hearts.
• Often Christians don't radiate the beauty of Heaven because we are clinging to things in the world.
• The secret for two people growing together for a lifetime (in marriage) is that they both put Christ first and above all else in their lives.  They are more in love with Jesus Christ than even with each other.
• You must come to the altar for yourself and surrender your life to Christ before you can grasp real Christianity.

• The beauty of this world is fleeting.  Yet when Jesus' beauty is seen in us, then that inner beauty will always appear outwardly to others.
• Jesus wants to have with you the truest love story of all time and to be your first love in a very practical sense.  An earthly love story should be the outflow of your intimate love relationship with Jesus Christ, not a replacement for it.
• God is not primarily interested in our "happiness", but in making us vessels for His glory & honor...which in turn leads to a very fulfilled life.
• If you are fully yielded to Jesus Christ, God can change the world through you!
• You can choose today to walk a different path then what you have gone on before and really follow Christ. 
• There are four ways to cultivate true beauty in your life:
• Exchange selfishness for selflessness.  Any focus on self is sin.  Humanism says, "The end of everything is our happiness."; but Christianity says, "The end of everything is the glory of God."  The secret to overcoming anxiety, depression, etc. is to focus on being Jesus' hands & feet to others. We are meant to have control over our own emotions.  Emotions should never control us or be used to control others.
• Guard your feminine mystique.  In other words, loving what God loves and hating what God hates by preserving the things which are sacred to God.  In the world, girls are being taught to flaunt everything and let the most private aspects of their lives be put out on public display.  In this way, a young girl robs the guy of his masculinity; as a result, he will not rise up to be the leader and protector you have dreamed of because you have given him nothing to protect.  We must remember to guard the "hidden man of the heart" (I Peter 3:3-4); which refers to the secret, intimate parts of who we are. 
• Celebrate God's fingerprints in your life.  God has an incredible purpose for singleness; it is not a "holding pattern" for marriage.  Remember and be grateful for the blessings God is providing in your life now as supposed to thinking that your life for God will not start until some later time.  Cultivate a beautiful prayer life with God now so that You can focus on His will for you.
• Embrace forgiveness.  There will be a blockage of Christ's beauty in your life if there is unforgiveness in your heart.  Don't focus on the other person's offenses; focus on what Christ did for you on the cross when you were wretched, miserable, hopeless, and undeserving.  It makes forgiveness a lot easier.  Take the step of obedience to God in giving forgiveness and God will take care of the rest.
  
• Being set apart for Jesus Christ means radical change in your life; a step of abandonment to Christ.  You will be a living sacrifice and bond servant to Jesus every moment of every day. 
• It doesn't matter if you haven't been set apart before or have made many mistakes.  You are never more ready to be set apart then when you are broken, empty, and completely inadequate in & of yourself.  Those who are forgiven much, love much.
• Our relationship with Christ is not separate from the other areas of our lives.  The areas we try to keep held back from God are usually the areas where there are idols.
• Worldly entertainment is a counterfeit to the true refreshing we can have in the presence of the Lord.
• If you are comfortable engaging in the world to such an extent that you are mixing the sacred with the profane (or are not even bothered by the profane), then your heart is not marked by the purity of Heaven.