Disciplines of a Godly Woman - Nurturing

The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.- Genesis 3:20
 
No one can nurture like a woman. Sure men can care for others too, but not with the same touch a woman has. Nurturing is a gift of feminine nature tucked deep within our hearts by God. Who do children run to when they are hurt, sick, or hungry? Mom. We care. We love. We provide. We encourage. We nurture.  
 
Adam even “called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” Gen. 3:20.  Adam knew his beloved wife was set apart for something unique that he was not capable of.  From her womb would come forth more likenesses of God that would eventually fill the earth. In her name was the image of a nurturer. We women were made with the pattern of Eve.
 
Our bodies were designed by the our Creator to nurture life from the very beginning. Though many try to deny, distort or even destroy this fact of life, it remains true. Our physical body reminds us of this uniqueness each month. When God grants conception, our bodies care for that delicate life until birth, then our female bodies are equipped to provide the food the young life needs to survive. Women were chosen to produce and sustain life! That is amazing!
 
Today’s society may downplay this incredible gift, as if it is some menial task to put up with, endure or even disdain. Don’t you agree with them for a moment. It is an incredible gift from God. Nurturing is essential for the well-being of everyone. The world would not survive or thrive without it.
 
Nurturing goes well beyond the physical into the spiritual. In the Bible, Timothy’s mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois, were credited with nurturing him spiritually.  Nurturing includes the teaching and training up of our young ones to know and honor the Lord. Cultivate this trait in your daughters and other young women. Teach them to refute the claims that loving and caring for their families and homes is old fashioned and oppressive.  Teach them to hold up all claims made by the world against the truth of God’s Word.
 
The discipline of nurturing is not limited to motherhood. It is a gift to be used by all women in all seasons of life. There are many in need of care all around us. We should serve as Jesus served: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” John 13:14-15. Pay attention to the sphere of influence God has placed you in, including family, friends and neighbors. We should be especially attentive to those in our church family (Gal. 6:10).
 
We women provide the gentle caress that all lives need and even long for. Don’t allow the world to cause you to deny what you know within to be true. It is why we feel for others like we do, it is why we care for people we don’t even know.  It is the longing inside of us to help the hurting, to fix the broken and to care for the neglected. It is a Christ-like call upon your life, listen to it and cherish it.