The Value of a Godly Female Role Model

It was an offhand comment during a prayer time at my Bible study group. But it blew me away.

Once a month, we split into single-sex groups for a more extended time of sharing and praying than we usually have time for. This is good news for the ladies, because it means we get to go to Val’s house. She’s a great host. Her house is kept at a cosy temperature and is stocked full of snacks that have been purchased to suit the tastes of her teenaged grandchildren—which suit me perfectly too.

But the best thing about Val’s house is that Val is there. It would be easy for the frustrations of old age and the gloom of the news to lead you to grumble. But Val can’t talk about either of those things for long before she’s remarking at how good the Lord is; how near he is to her; how grateful she is for him. She talks about God like he’s real.

Role models inspire us that a Christlike life isn’t boring but beautiful.

That makes her a natural evangelist. Every week she seems to have a story about someone she’s spoken to: a friend on the phone or at a café or at the social club at church for older people. Even at funerals—to which Val goes to more than she would like—she somehow ends up chatting about Jesus.  

And she chats to God like he’s real, too. When she prays it’s like she’s picking up a conversation with an old friend that she’s just left off—a conversation that she started before we arrived and will continue after we leave.

I have always admired Val’s prayer life. But I was nonetheless stunned when she said to the group—midflow while sympathizing with a slightly frazzled mother of four—“… I do pray for you all each night before I go to bed, and I say to him…” I was blown away at the idea of someone—unbeknownst to me—praying for me each evening. Someone lifting me up before the throne of our Father in heaven. What a gift.

Then—not for the first time, and doubtless not for the last—I thought: I really want to be like Val when I grow up.

Never too old, never too young

There’s something powerful about role models—those who go before us and show us what life could look like; the things we could do; the kind of people we could become; the future version of ourselves that we could be.

That’s one of the convictions behind the UN’s International Women’s Day, celebrated each year on 8th March—a day committed to celebrating and increasing the visibility of women in the hope, in part, of inspiring the next generation. It’s hard to become what one cannot see.

Christian role models show us what faithfulness to Jesus looks like in the grind of ordinary life—how the head knowledge of a hundred sermons should move our hands and feet.

That same conviction undergirds Christian discipleship, too. As Paul exhorted the Corinthians: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Christian role models show us what faithfulness to Jesus looks like in the grind of ordinary life—how the head knowledge of a hundred sermons should move our hands and feet. And role models inspire us that a Christlike life isn’t boring but beautiful.

We never outgrow the need for role models. And we’re never too young to benefit from them either.

So, this International Women’s Day, why not take the opportunity to celebrate the godly women who have inspired you? Perhaps it’s a sister in Christ from your own church family, or someone from history. Chat about them with your kids or your friends; send them a message or write them a letter to encourage them, if you know them personally; or you could even take the opportunity to discover some new ones.

Most of all, though, thank God for the Saviour whose Spirit empowers them—and ask him to help you to follow their example, as they follow the example of Christ.

Encourage girls with godly role models using the Do Great Things For God Series. There are now free PDFs of biography worksheets for kids that you can download to accompany each book.