Titus 2 Woman

The other day I saw a bumper sticker that said, "Well-behaved women rarely make history." And I heard it again just a day or so later.

I began to worry, "Am I making history?"

Then I thought, 'Really? Well-behaved women rarely make history?'

Some famous women came to mind; I guess I should say famous and infamous women came to mind. Some challenged society's norms in ways that would benefit all- standing against slavery, caring for the sick of the poorest of the poor, smuggling food to those in hiding- all women who, true, didn't behave in the norm. But I wouldn't call what they did 'misbehaving'. They simply did what was right; they shaped history.

Others definitely misbehaved but not in a charitable or benevolent way. Many would say, "That woman made history."

To 'make history' in this way is merely a paragraph, a sentence, or maybe just a footnote in the story of mankind. It's doing something to make a name for one's self, rather than for the good of all presently and for those yet to come.

There are those who make history and those who shape history.

Where's the bumper sticker of those who shape history? After a much thought, I have come to realize such women don't want or need applause. They make, or rather, shape history in the way they go about their daily lives with no special recognition needed.

And then the question became not, "Am I making history?" It became "Am I shaping history?"

And then the LORD brought to mind Titus 2:3-5, "the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things- that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." (New King James Version)

This is the goal I strive to reach. A Titus 2 woman. A woman who loves and serves God, a woman who loves her husband and children, a woman who makes a house a home, a woman who lives in such a way that glorifies God, a woman who teaches-not merely word- but truly how she lives her life for younger women to follow her example.

True, such a woman will probably not be written about in history books, applauded by the masses, or even known beyond her immediate friends and family. Still, such a woman does not just make history. This kind of woman shapes history for generations to come.

So maybe that's what those bumper stickers should say, "Well-behaved women don't make history; they SHAPE history!"