"A Woman of Substance"

"A Woman of Substance"
What is a woman of substance in the world?
There was a famous book and TV series by Barbara Taylor Bradford, in the 1980’s which seemed to suggest that a woman of substance was one who was very successful in business, self-sufficient and rich; a woman who went through men at a rate of knots and who had troublesome children. At the time, in my teenage, pre-Christian days I was gripped by the novel, if not the ideas the central character seemed to stand for.

But, even in the world outside the novel, a woman of substance seems to be one who has an amazing career, is pretty, slim as a reed, and who dresses amazingly well. She can be single or married, financially active or on a career break, a mother or not but she must be seen to be doing, driving forward, have ambition and above all, she must be successful.

But these things are all external, they are all the trappings of worldly success, the ‘stuff’ that goes with it. Does this really make her a woman of substance? A woman who matters? A woman who lives a life of meaning? What then, is a woman of substance really? Who does God say she is?

God’s view of a woman of substance
There are many different types of women in the Bible, wives (Sarah, Esther), mothers (Mary, Sarah, Hannah, Naomi), professional women (Lydia, a trader in purple cloth), leaders (Deborah, the judge), prophets (Anna, Miriam), prostitutes (Rahab) and many more. But, it not what they did that is important, it is who they are in Christ that counts. Their relationship with God is of central importance. What does God say in His Word makes a woman of substance? God’s interest is not external, it is the heart. Once we accept this fundamental truth, we can draw nearer to an understanding of the person God intends us to be. A woman in the world but not of it!

Women of faith
A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure. Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked
Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.”
But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” When the woman realised she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees before him. The whole crowd heard her explaining why she had touched him and that she had felt immediately healed. “Daughter,” he said to her, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” (Luke 8:43 – 48)

What is faith? Hebrews 11: 1a tells us It is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. So then faith is confidence in God, in His loving assurance, in His care and in His love. It is knowing that we can Hope in God and not in vain. It is knowing for a fact that He is with me, even on the days when I feel alone. Hebrews 11:1 goes on to say that it is faith that gives us the assurance about things we cannot see. So even when we can’t see round the corner of the twisty path that makes up our life, it is the knowledge that God can. It is the reassurance that this gives us that enables us to walk around that blind corner because we have faith. Furthermore it is faith that gives us our good reputation and sets us apart for God (Hebrews 11:2 Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.)

Without faith we have no relationship with God. It is faith which enables us to take the step to commit our lives to Christ in the first place and it is faith that enables us to walk with Christ daily, even when we think it might be easier to give up. (See Matthew 6:25-36) Faith is an act of worship, it is saying to God, “Yes, I believe in you,’’ and, “Yes, I believe you”. It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. (Hebrews 11:11) It is faith that enables us to believe something will happen even when, on the face of it, it seems impossible. It is belief in the promises of God. It is faith that enables us to draw closer to God. Faith is what drove all the heroes of the Old Testament to live and act the way they did, as we see Hebrews 11:

And it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6)

God’s gift of faith to us is what enables us to takes risks. Look at the woman who touched Jesus. God gave her faith firstly, to reach out, secondly, do something almost beyond comprehension in those days, to touch a man other than her husband and most importantly, to believe that she would be healed by God. Jesus tells her, your faith has healed you. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (Hebrews 11:6b) What a reward for that woman, and what a reward awaits you and me, when we put our faith in Jesus. Faith is not something that simply gets us through daily living, it is what gets us into the glorious eternal life with God:

Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household Acts16:31

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. Romans 5:1 – 2

Yes, we are called to be women of faith, this is one of the things that makes us women of substance in the eyes of God.


It is by faith that we have a relationship with Jesus and it is that relationship with Christ that marks us out as different in the world. Faith in God is but one aspect of a woman of substance in the eyes of God, but it is the springboard to all the others. It is through having a faith-filled, loving relationship with Christ that we are enabled to be all the things that God wants us to be. So, we need to spend time on that relationship. We need to spend time at the foot of the cross in worship, prayer and listening. When we worship God we express our reverence for Him. It is here where we repent and express our love to God and our gratitude to him for His forgiveness. It is from this reverence for God, our fear of the Lord that true wisdom comes.

It is from this relationship with Christ, as part of the family of God, that all the other aspects of a woman of substance will grow. From out the love of Christ will come a desire to serve God and others, to witness to others, to pray and to live a life that is holy and pleasing to Him. A life of true Godly substance.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. (Romans 12: 1)

Whatever life God calls us to, whether it is single or married, a mother or not, a career woman or a homemaker, he calls us to be his daughters, to have a loving relationship with Him. He calls us not to be super-women in earthly terms but Godly women, real women, women with a heart to serve God. Consequently, we need to examine our lives to see where we can become more of the woman of substance that God wants us to be. We need to ask Him what role each of us can play in our church, our communities, our homes.

Go for it, be the woman of substance God called you to be, living in relationship with Jesus, daily.

And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:50)All scriptures in this essay are from NLT- New Living Translation