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Wouldn’t it be lovely if the women of the church united as fierce, loyal sisters?
Where our common ground stood not in our denomination or preference for schooling, length of hem, or hermeneutics?
What if we gathered as sisters bond by loyalty and love to our “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6)? What if we listened to each other, truly listened with hearts of compassion, gentleness, and humility?
What if we set aside our pretenses and masks and stopped pretending everything is okay and we’ve got it all together? What if we encouraged others by sharing our dark moments, not just the sunshiny days?
What if we came along the hurting and doubting not with exhortations to “just believe,” but with prayers and grace? What if we not only spoke truth, but spoke truth in love?
What if we walked humbly, unashamedly in our gifts? Might we then see the body of Christ built up and properly working (Ephesians 4:11-12, 16)? What if we had a common goal so strong we left the devil with no chance for a foothold?
What would we be if we imitated God and not others? If we walked in love and laid our lives down like Jesus?
Can you imagine a sisterhood so strong?
So beautiful?
What if I challenged you to wipe the slate clean?
To forgive the past hurts caused by women, step out of your safe group, and lay down the protective shield.
There are generations of women waiting, just waiting for a friend, to be heard, to be seen, to be loved, to see Christ in the church around them.
What if we could revolutionize the world by how we relate to each other?
I believe we can, but it won’t be easy. There will be obstacles, pain, unforgiveness, fear, pride—but I believe that if Jesus called us to live in fellowship as one body, then we can.
I believe in this beautiful, broken sisterhood.
I believe in grace and unity,
I believe loving your enemy and forgiving the backstabber is completely in the realm of possibility.
I believe it is possible for the women of God to be truth-speakers, heart healers, merciful doers, and grace extenders.
I believe God has great things in store for His women if only we’d be willing to walk in bold, humble grace and set the course.
Are you with me?
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As I look into my own life, I know this kind of sisterhood will be hard. It will require me to be vulnerable time and time again. It’ll ask me to overlook offenses—being forgotten, overlooked, and cast aside. It’ll bring me to places where I’ll have to extend myself in exhausting ways—it’s always easier to put on a smile than to reopen old wounds. It’ll ask me to trust God more than man. It will change me.
I really, truly believe if I’m brave enough to pull down my walls and offer open-handed, ask for nothing in return friendship, and live broken in God’s grace this sisterhood has a chance.
I’ve decided to make a pledge to my sisters in Christ as a way of saying I am committed to you and to walking in a way that shows I’m changing how I relate.
I’m opening the pledge to you. I want this to be real–online and, more importantly, off. I want a sisterhood I can touch and rely on in the day-to-day.
As a way to walk out this pledge practically and to grow in my own relationships, I’ll be blogging my way through this beautiful sisterhood the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month and you’re more than welcome to join me.