I am waiting in line to check out at Super Walmart and instantly pick up Vanity Fair with Lady Gaga on the cover and start to flip through to see what they say about her.  After all, everyone is “gaga” for Lady Gaga.  After I start to read, I stop and ask myself, “What am I doing?” and put the magazine back.  I start to feel guilty and wonder if there is something wrong with picking up Vanity Fair  to read about Lady Gaga.  I cannot say it is wrong to read an article about Lady Gaga, in and of itself.  Nevertheless, my intention was ill, because I wanted to read something good about her to justify listening to her songs.  After all, her songs have a good beat.  I continued to think, and thought it would be great if there was a godly woman on the cover of a magazine that I could read about while I wait in line to check out at Super Walmart and whose example would encourage me to be pleasing to God.  Then I thought, “There is… the Bible.”  Although it is not a magazine, it is a book with many examples of women who feared God and women whose mistakes I can learn from.

The name Eve translates to “life, life giving, and living.”  Her name means “the mother of all who have life.”  While she physically gave life to her children, she also allowed sin to penetrate the earth which led to death and separation from God.  This is an important lesson and it brings me to my first point.  Eve made the choice to disobey God’s command and ate the forbidden fruit, which resulted in an everlasting consequence (Genesis 3:1-24).  Just as Eve had free will to make choices, I too have free will to make choices.  Would Eve have made the choice she did if she knew the consequence?  Although I cannot answer the question, I ask myself, “How much more would I think about the choices I make if I knew they carried heavy consequences?”  More importantly, “Why would I disobey God and the commandments He has given?”  It is hard at times, but I have to apply this to myself when I justify listening to Lady Gaga sing about things that are not pleasing to God, just because I like the beat. I know what God has said through the apostle Paul.  Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, ??whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, ??dwell on these things” (NASU).

Not only did Eve choose to disobey God, she also provoked her husband, Adam to sin by asking him to take of the forbidden fruit.  This leads to my second point.  As a woman who fears God, I do not want to lead my husband away from God’s commands with my thoughts, words, or actions.  Genesis 2:20-22 says that as a woman, I am to be husband’s helpmate.  I am to be a spiritual helpmate and encourage him to make decisions that are pleasing to God.  I am to help him and others—just as they are to help me—strive for the goal of eternal life.  Galatians 6:1 says, “Brethren, even if ??anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one ?in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.”

The Bible says that before Eve, there was not a helper suitable for Adam (Genesis 2.20) and for that reason, Eve was created for Adam.  This brings me to my final point.  Not only am I supposed to be a spiritual helpmate for my husband, I am to be a physical helpmate too because God knows I am good for my husband, just as Eve was good for Adam.  This does not mean that I am less than my husband; Galatians 3:28 says we are all equal.  Being a wife, I feel honored that I was created for my husband.  Without me, my husband could not fulfill his role as a husband and father, and without him, I could not fulfill my role as a wife and mother.  My husband needs me, just as I need him.

Who knew waiting in line to check out at Super Walmart could be life changing, but it was this that started my study on women in the Bible.  There are women whose example is pleasing to God and there are women whose example is not pleasing to God.  There is so much to learn from them regardless of the time that separates us.

By Kerstin Allison
Kerstin and her husband, Britton, are graduates of The Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver. They now live in Oklahoma City, OK and worship with the church that meets at North MacArthur. Currently they are going to school and once they are finished, they hope to do international mission work.