Why We Need Jesus More than Compliments

Posted on Jan 16, 2020 Topic :
Posted by : Phylicia Masonheimer

“God is within her, she shall not fall.”

I first saw this quote on a mug a few years ago. Since then, I have seen it fly from mugs to sweatshirts to tees to cute graphics on Instagram. I have heard it used at women’s conferences, as the theme of the event. But does anyone know what it means? Does anyone know where it came from, or the original context?

The quote is actually Psalm 46:5. In context, “her” is not a woman at all—it’s the city of Jerusalem! The psalmist is praising God’s presence in the Temple and His strength on behalf of the city.

This kind of out-of-context, surface-level treatment of texts has become the substance of much material marketed to Christian women. It’s been assumed women don’t need or aren’t capable of learning theology—how to understand God through Scripture. And because we aren’t teaching women how to understand the Bible, they don’t know how to live it out.

Psalm 46:5 is just one example of a much bigger problem. “You’re a beautiful daughter of the King” has become the calling card of women’s ministry. While this message is true, it is not complete. The gospel of Jesus Christ frees us to become holy as He is holy; to walk in strength, peace, and wisdom; to make a difference in our communities! But this only occurs when the gospel we embrace is a complete one.

Our beauty as daughters of the King is available because Jesus paved the way. When we water down the gospel, removing the difficult parts about sin, atonement, and holiness, we are left with feel-good messages about beauty and identity. The irony? These messages don’t bring freedom. Instead, they leave women striving to become better people, bolstered by coffee and a few bible verses. Shallow Christian teaching leads to burdened, burned-out women who don’t know the Bible, and thus don’t know the freedom Jesus offers.

It’s time for a change. Women are ready to go deeper with the Lord, and He is ready to take them there! God wants to be understood and has revealed Himself through the Word for this purpose. Our job, as women of God, is to take Him up on this opportunity: To get beyond the “Instagram Bible”, to listen to His leading, to obey and be transformed. Jesus offers a way out of bitterness, anger, isolation, anxiety, fear of people’s opinions, and shame.

Psalm 46:1, a few verses before the often-misinterpreted Psalm 46:5, says: “The Lord is our refuge and our strength; a very present help in trouble.” When we turn to the true gospel of Jesus as our refuge, instead of relying on more Christian messages about ourselves, we find real strength. We are truly helped. God IS with us—through the gospel! And we become our truest selves by finding ourselves in Him.