Discover the timeless characteristics of a godly woman
Are you interested in knowing the qualities of a godly woman? Well….
If you’ve come to this article thinking I’m going to tell you that you can’t wear red lipstick (I love red lipstick), your skirts have to be exactly this length, and you must read your Bible five times a day (although I do encourage spending time with God regularly), then this might not be the blog post for you.
While how you carry yourself is important, God cares more about your heart. Once you allow His Spirit in, He can influence all other aspects of your life, including giving you discernment about how to carry yourself in a way that honors Him.
I must say that there are days that I don’t feel like a godly woman despite my time in the word, worship, and my reflections on the blessings God has given me. All it takes is one hiccup and the accuser (Satan) is there to rub it in my face. If you can relate, allow me to share with you what God shared with me.
This is not the time to beat yourself up for being an imperfect human. Those guilty and shameful thoughts are NOT from God. They’re from the enemy. We defeat the enemy with God’s truths, so here are some truths for you.
For one, no matter what, you are who God says you are and can do what He says you can do. Secondly, this journey is about progress and not perfection. While it may seem that a perfect God is looking for a perfect vessel, He’s not. He wants you just the way you are.
It’s Him who is willing to take on the task of shaping and molding you into His image if you will allow Him to. I don’t want to get ahead myself, but here’s how you will be encouraged in this article.
You will
- Learn the definition of a Godly woman so Satan can’t attack your identity any longer
- Learn what it takes to become a godly woman. It’s simple…I promise.
- Discover the qualities of a godly woman as told by the women of the Bible.
What is the definition of a godly woman?
A godly woman is a woman who identifies as a daughter of Christ and honors Him with her heart, mind, body, and choices while trusting him with her future.
As God is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, his daughters, aka godly women, are fully aware that they belong to royalty, not of this world. Thus, they carry themselves differently than society as a result of God’s presence dwelling in their hearts. They will always stand out from the crowd.
Thus, being a godly woman oftentimes means being an outcast from the world and its culture.
A godly woman also knows that she’s not perfect and can never be. Instead, she strives to be the best person God created her to be. She’s humble enough to go through trials and tribulations allowing God to shape and mold her into His vision of her.
She also possesses biblical self-discipline, allowing God to build her spiritual muscles and develop godly endurance so that he can run her Christian race.
How to become a godly woman?
You become a godly woman when you accept Jesus into your heart. That’s it—that’s the not-so-secret secret.
Once you accept Jesus into your life, God becomes the surgeon of your spiritual heart. Don’t worry; He’s the only masterful one who’s never had a complication and has never lost a patient.
He will cut away the things that are not like Him and transplant in the things that are. And slowly but surely, you become more and more like Him each day.
It’s not a light switch that you flip after becoming saved and boom, you are a perfect godly woman. Nope, it’s a marathon. It’s the race Paul describes.
As you run this marathon, God is your honorary coach. He spiritually strength trains you so that you build spiritual muscle. As a result, when spiritual attacks come, you reflexively act in tandem with His Spirit and not your flesh.
He’s also helping you with cardio allowing you to build spiritual endurance as you run your Christian race. So when the trials of life try to knock you down, you trust Him, get back up, and keep running.
Qualities of a Godly woman as told by the women of the Bible
The Bible is God’s love letters and instructions written for our encouragement and teaching. So when we want to examine the characteristics of a godly woman, we can look no further than the Bible for our answers.
Throughout the scriptures, we are given access to the lives of numerous women who were flawed just like you and me. Yet, God called them His. He moved boldly in their lives and used them to accomplish great things for His kingdom. This includes delivering the Messiah to save a fallen and broken world.
You will see that some of these women are the direct ancestors of Jesus, God himself in human form. Others are examples of the love, bravery, and provisions that we receive from God because of His great and unconditional love for humanity.
We can glean the qualities of a woman that catch God’s attention from these women. Here are key attributes of godly women exemplified by the women in the Bible.
1. A godly woman seeks and trusts in God’s wisdom and strength instead of her own
The Proverbs 31 woman is our teacher for this characteristic of a woman of God.
In this chapter of Proverbs, we are introduced to a woman who is a wife, mother, businesswoman, and philanthropist. She does a lot, and she does it well—seemingly flawlessly.
How did she care for her family, home, and others while running a business and pouring into others? Her secret is found in Proverbs 31:15 (This comes from the AMPC translation).
She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household and assigns her maids their tasks.
The Proverbs 31 woman is able to execute every role in her life without fail because she takes the time to seek God’s wisdom, guidance, and instructions at the start of her day—before her household even rises.
She allows God to equip her for the day, refusing to lean on her own strength and wisdom. This is just one essential lesson that busy, modern-day women can learn from the woman of Proverbs 31.
As we juggle careers, family, business, and whatever else is on our plates, our first step should be to present that plate to God. He will show us how to conquer it.
As soon as we start to take on things ourselves, that’s when we stumble and fall—in other words, burnout. We weren’t created to carry the world on our shoulders. God does that and He will show you how to handle the portions He’s entrusted to you.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:29-30 NIV
2. A godly woman is patient and persistent in prayer
Hannah is our biblical teacher when discussing this quality of a godly woman.
God places dreams and desires in our hearts. But, we run into trouble when we think those dreams and desires should be accomplished by a certain time and this doesn’t align with God’s timeline.
As a result, we start to lose hope and question whether or not we heard God correctly. Discouragement can quickly settle in and the enemy pounces encouraging us to question God and His intentions.
Hannah shows us exactly what a Godly woman should do in such situations. Even though her heart ached, her eyes were filled with tears, society’s clock was ticking, Peninnah was picking on her, she continued to trust God.
She did not take matters into her own hands, seek revenge, or lash out at God. She prayed…and she continued to pray until our faithful God answered her prayers.
I highly encourage you to check out the blog post on lessons to learn from Hannah.
3. A godly woman is obedient and trusts God even when she doesn’t understand
Mary, the mother of Jesus, is our instructor on trusting God even when we’re unsure and/or scared.
An angel appears to her calling her highly favored and tells her what is to be. Her reply,
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:38 NIV
Whatever God has asked of you, I hope you and I will answer as Mary did. Who knows what’s on the other side of your obedience? I can tell you one thing though. With God, it’s bound to be extraordinary.
4. A godly woman is loyal to the kingdom of God and not to the fleeting pleasures of this world
Our biblical teacher for this characteristic of a woman of God is Ruth.
Ruth was a Moabite. A foreigner to Isreal, but a woman who would become the mother of its kings. And it all started with a decision she made on a road.
She could have returned to her practices and culture and found a new life with a new husband. Surely this seemed to be the easier route. However, she chose differently.
She chose to follow her mother-in-law, and in doing, so she chose God. The future would have surely seemed uncertain with two women trying to survive in biblical times. However, they were choosing to follow God and this made all the difference.
When Ruth returned to Bethlehem, she didn’t set out to find a man to take care of her and her mother-in-law. She used what God gave her and went to work.
She kept her head down working and focusing on the things of God. It was her character (her loyalty, perseverance, and obedience to God) that attracted God’s blessings and the attention of Boaz. Her reputation had preceded her.
The lesson for the women of today is to avoid the world’s distractions. Keep your eyes on Jesus and what He’s called you to. In His perfect timing, He will give you the desires of his heart according to His perfect will.
5. A godly woman who finds her beauty and purpose in God and not the eyes of men.
Leah is our biblical teacher in the subject matters of comparison and godly beauty.
Leah got handed the short stick…or so it seemed. Her father tricked her husband into marrying her when her husband actually wanted her younger and “more beautiful” sister. This left Leah in a marriage feeling unwanted and unloved.
She tried to gain her husband’s attention and affection. God allowed her to birth son after son, which was a huge deal in biblical times. Yet, she still found herself unloved.
She didn’t realize that God loved her more than she could ever know. He richly blessed her and favored her seeing the anguish in her heart. Leah received this love, took her eyes off of her husband, and placed them on God.
She saw her value and worth through her Father’s eyes, which changed everything for her. Leah is not remembered as the one with weak eyes or the unattractive sister. She’s remembered as the mother of 6 of the 12 tribes of Israel.
This includes the tribe of Judah, the lineage from which Jesus descended.
The moral of the story is no matter what box society has placed you in, a godly woman places her eyes on Jesus and finds her identity in Him. In doing this, she’s able to fully experience the true love of God.
And as she operates in the love of her Father, she’s able to accomplish amazing things for His kingdom.
6. A godly woman submits to God and uses her authority to serve Him.
A godly woman knows that everything that she is and has is because of God. Thus, she uses her gifts, talents, and provisions to serve Him. Esther is our teacher for this lesson on the qualities of a godly woman.
God elevated Esther, a Jew, to be Queen of Persia. However, a man named Haman hated the Jews and was close to the king. He also hated Mordecai, Esther’s cousin who raised her.
Unaware of Esther’s lineage and her relationship to Mordecai, Haman developed a plan to wipe out the Jews. This is where this infamous verse comes in.
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14 NIV
God used Esther’s position to save His people from genocide. Whatever the role He has given you as a woman of God, it will be used for His glory. Nothing is insignificant in the kingdom of God.
7. A woman who knows that she is the heartbeat of her household.
As men are called to head of their households, women are the heartbeat. I learned this in my first few months of marriage. If you’re single, this still applies to you.
After a hectic day at work, I walked into my home with all the day’s frustrations weighing on me. After a few instances of this, God pointed out that my mood and actions were affecting my household. My husband later confirmed it by telling me upfront.
If I walked into my home angry or frustrated, that was the vibe I had set for my family and things seemed chaotic. However, if I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes to pray and give my burdens to God, I noticed the difference in the atmosphere of my home.
God reminded me of Abigail who was initially married to a stubborn and selfish man, Nabal. David had protected this man’s property and when he asked for provisions for him and his troops, Nabal refused.
David was on his way to kill Nabal and all of his men. When Abigail heard, she quickly gathered provisions and met David out on the road. She interceded on behalf of the household, and they were spared.
She also interceded for David, preventing him from “the burden of needless bloodshed on his conscience.” Later, God would deal with Nabal for his offense against David.
God has given women authority over their relationships and their walk alongside Him. It’s up to us to use it wisely.
8. A godly woman is humble and trusts in God’s love and restoration
Naomi, the prodigal daughter, is our biblical teacher for this quality of a godly woman. As we pointed out with the Proverbs 31 woman, being a godly woman is not about perfection. We are human and mistakes will be made. The important thing is that we repent and learn from them. However, that doesn’t mean that we will always avoid the consequences of our actions.
Naomi left Bethlehem with her family to go live in the foreign land of Moab. Moab did not worship God and had practices of their own that were not in alignment with God’s teachings. This left her feeling lost and empty as she stepped away from God. However, she would learn that God never left her.
Naomi remembered who she was and to whom she belonged. Instead of staying in despair and allowing bitterness to settle in, she humbled herself and returned home to God. God met her there. He made provisions for Naomi and restored her through her daughter-in-law, Ruth.
9. A godly woman is not afraid to stand up and fight the battles God has called her to.
Deborah is our instructor in this area. She was a judge in Israel and a prophetess, which was significant for a woman during biblical times.
She led and guided God’s people boldly under God’s authority during a time when the king of Canaan was allowed to oppress them due to their sins.
Just like Deborah, no matter what battles God has summoned you to fight, fight in His name and with His authority. Victory is surely yours no matter how outnumbered or outmatched you may seem to be.
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Romans 8:31 NIV
Final thoughts on understanding the qualities of a godly woman
In this article, we have discussed the definition of a godly woman, how to become one, and the qualities that emulate a woman of God.
Remember that God expects progress and not perfection. Don’t give in to attacks on your identity in Christ. I hope this article has encouraged you and will stand as a guiding light pointing you to the One who gave you His all.
Until next time,
-Dr. Jay
