Clothed In Strength — What It Means To Be Strong by Rev. Christie Bature: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

You Are Clothed with Strength

So many people play small because they think that is all that they are. They have looked at themselves and decided they are in a small fish pond. Meanwhile, the ocean is waiting. If your environment is limiting you, change it.

I want to imagine strength as a physical thing — imagine that you wake up every morning, pick up a dress, and the name of the dress is strength, and you wear it. If you are conscious that you are wearing strength, which man will get more grit, more confidence, more boldness? Because you know you are wearing strength.

Proverbs 31:10 — Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. Verse 25: She is clothed with strength and dignity.

This is a statement of fact. Until you personalize it, it is just a prophecy hanging in the air. She is clothed with strength — not will be clothed. You are already clothed with strength.

Resilience — The Elasticity of Woman

Strength here is not physical brute force. No man can carry a pregnancy for 9 months — it is not a defect, it is just not his design. But the kind of strength women have, the men wish they had it.

To complement the man's drive and urgency, God gave them helpers that have the capacity to wait. Waiting is a strength. The capacity to wait is a strength, and you are clothed with it.

There is a word called resilience. The elasticity of a substance is its capacity to go back to its former shape after it has been pressured, pulled, pummeled, attacked. And the owner of that word is the woman.

The girl begins to stretch — that is resilience. She stretches to accommodate marriage, she incubates new life, she pushes that baby out and then stands up like nothing happened. She takes a microscopic seed and waits, builds it into a full human being, and when it is time to release — she stretches again.

But there is an elastic limit. If you exceed it, the elastic doesn't go back to how it was. Don't push a woman beyond her elastic limit. Because if you push her and you exceed that limit, she won't go back to how she was before — she will come after you.

The Hebrew Word — Eshet Chayil

The Hebrew word translated "virtuous" is eshet chayil. The word chayil carries the meaning of: strength, courage, valor, force, wealth, capability, and an army.

You are clothed. You are an army by yourself.

Virtuous woman is literally a woman of valor. In many places in the Old Testament, chayil describes mighty warriors. So we sing "Mighty warrior, great in battle" — that is your title too, if you dare believe it.

Strength Is the Courage of Character

Modern culture teaches that strong women are loud, aggressive, emotionally hardened, self-sufficient to the point of isolation, dismissive of vulnerability, and defined by independence rather than wisdom. That is not strength.

I am not preaching women's liberation or feminism. I am simply saying that when the instruction came in the garden to be productive, it was given to man in creation — and inside man was both the male and the female. The instruction was given to both. Capacities are the same because out of Adam, everything he was, they took and made the woman. You don't have diminished capacity. You have equal capacity.

The only difference between you and the male is that you have a womb — that is why you are called woman: womb-man. The male does not have a womb. Cannot incubate anything. It is not a defect — it is a design. They were designed to sow seeds, to lead, to protect, to defend, to provide.

But provision these days should not be reduced to food, clothing, and shelter. There is emotional stability — that is provision. There is spiritual protection — that is provision. There is physical protection. These days women can buy their own clothes and pay their own rent. Redefine what provision means.

Strength Is Anchored Humility

True strength is not arrogance — it is anchored humility. There are too many proud women. A proud man and a stubborn woman is the closest thing to hellfire.

There are two ways to humility: either you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, or you are humiliated into humility. When humiliation comes, you will humble by force. So go to places intentionally and put yourself down, reminding yourself: stay grounded. There is nothing you are that God has not made you. There is nothing you have that you have not been given.

Micah 6:8 — "What does the Lord require of you? That you act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." That is strength. Humility is strength.

Culture says strength is domination. God says strength is discipline. Culture says strength is defiance. God says strength is conviction. Culture says strength is never needing anyone. God says strength is walking humbly with him.

Three Dimensions of Strength

1. Strength in private

   Integrity when unseen. Prayer life. Emotional discipline. Sexual purity. The number of women cheating on their husbands has caught up with the men. Your body is the temple of God. God placed a covering at the entrance of your private part as a call to sexual stewardship. Be careful who goes there.

2. Strength in relationships

   Set boundaries. Refuse abuse. Speak truth in love. Raise children with conviction. Support other women instead of competing. Be someone's covenant keeper — every habit is a training of the brain, and when you are tired of a habit, you retrain the brain.

3. Strength in society

   Ethical leadership. Advocacy for justice. Mentorship — some of you are so focused on yourself you have nothing to give others. God did not bring you to where you are so that you can lord it over others and be the local champion. God gave you what you have so you can comfort others with the same comfort with which you have been comforted. Entrepreneurship with integrity and faith without apology.

Strength is the capacity to consistently choose what is right until it becomes a part of you. That is virtue. Even when it is difficult.

Don't just be a woman of integrity — be a woman of virtue. Virtue is consistently choosing the right thing until it becomes part and parcel of who you are. You don't have to think about it before you do it.

I am not fragile. I am not accidental. I am clothed with strength and dignity. My virtue is my valor. I live with courage and conviction in the name of Jesus.

Father, thank you for every woman here today. You created everyone with purpose, dignity, and strength. Lord, awaken in them the courage of virtue. Where there has been doubt, release conviction. Where there has been fear, release courage. Where there has been compromise, release integrity. Father, clothe these women with strength and dignity. Let their lights shine with truth, wisdom, and compassion. May their virtue become valor in every sphere of influence in Jesus' mighty name.