I write extensively on the importance of moms knowing right theology and being students of the Word for themselves. Sometimes, however, the consensus from moms seems to be that they don't know how to be theologians. But the truth of the matter is this: moms already are theologians. Everyone is!
Many blog posts, marriage seminars, and entire books have been written on the importance of wives respecting their husbands. Did you know, however, that husbands are called by God to respect their wives, as well? This truly is a road that is to go both ways.
Having spent many years in complementarian and patriarchal circles, I often heard the teaching that "Husbands are to be prophets, priests, and kings in their homes". I didn't question it at the time, but I now find it to be completely unbiblical.
I have to admit that when we found out our second baby was a boy, I was both really excited and incredibly nervous. How was I going to raise a son? Raising up godly boys seemed foreign to me.
The primary way legalism played out in my own personal life was in my practice of taking man's teachings regarding what Biblical womanhood was and superimposing them onto the Scriptures. The result (though I didn't see it at the time) was that I was making the Word of God say something it actually didn't say.
I claim neither the label of "egalitarian" nor the label of "complementarian" for myself. Whether it is the label "egalitarian", "complementarian", "Calvinist", "Arminian", "Baptist" or something else entirely, our boxes, labels, and systems are all man-made.
If you had asked me eleven years ago what Biblical womanhood was, you would have received a far different answer than the one I espouse today. Both egalitarianism and complementarianism are wrong. As my wise father tried to tell me for years, we err when we label ourselves a "this" or a "that."
The truth of the matter is this: as I point out in Lies Moms Believe (And How the Gospel Refutes Them), the Lord never asked you to be "perfect" for your children. He has simply asked you to be a conduit of the Gospel, pointing your children to Him through your imperfection.
We don't fail so because of a lack of strength or dedication but because of faulty theology.
