V738. Personal Development for Young Ladies. Editorial Council. Pastor Mickey Carter, D.Th. Pastor of Landmark Baptist Church

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1 V738 Personal Development for Young Ladies Editorial Council Pastor Mickey Carter, D.Th. Pastor of Landmark Baptist Church Robert A. Ossewaarde, D.Min. Curriculum Administrator, Editor Seamus Pautz, B.S. Production Management, Graphic and Content Editing

2 Copyright 2016 by Landmark s Freedom Baptist Curriculum (LFBC). LFBC is a ministry of Landmark Baptist Church, Haines City, Florida. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except as provided by United States copyright law. Landmark s Freedom Baptist Curriculum 2222 East Hinson Avenue Haines City, Florida LFBC (5322) Graphics courtesy of Freepik.com All Scripture quotes are from the Authorized King James Bible

3 INTRODUCTION Introduction This course will benefit young ladies for the remainder of their lives. In fact, it will help make ladies out of girls if the material is studied, believed and applied. Being a Christian affects every area of one s life, so girls should use the Bible as their guide to dating, dressing, family relationships, etc. will help give you more confidence in your personal life, and will provide spiritual guidelines that will serve you well for a lifetime. One of the first things you will learn in this course is that the world generally has an opposing view to what God says about any subject, and beauty is no exception. As Christians, we want to learn His viewpoint. We can do this by learning what He says about it in His Word, the Bible. When you see words such as strong, character, rugged, etc., realize that does not necessarily mean tomboy, masculine, or manly. Godly ladies are a perfect balance of strong character and feminine gentleness. Psalm 18:35 says, Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. Psalm 96:6 says, Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. One of the most interesting things about your personal development is finding the balance so necessary in your Christian life and your daily walk with God. We want you to retain all the individual qualities that make you who you are if they are good! Your goal should be to purge yourself of the qualities that do not belong in your life as you mature, and to replace them with the qualities that God wants you to have. He will help you develop into what will fulfill His wonderful plan for your life. Reach your full potential. It is an exciting journey. So do your best, ladies! 3

4 Table of Contents Table of Contents Week 1 Essence of Beauty...7 Week 2 What Beauty Is Not...11 Week 3 Dispelling Beauty Through Jealousy, Indifference, and Immorality Week 4 The Essential Element of Inner Beauty Week 5 Three Most Becoming Attitudes of the Christian Young Woman Week 6 The Beauty of Loving Yourself...31 Week 7 The Ideal Woman: God s Wonderful Creation Week 8 The Essence of Womanhood: Femininity Week 9 Understanding Men...43 Week 10 Satan s attack on God s Creation Through Unisex...47 Week 11 Satan s attack on God s Creation Through the ERA and the sensuality movement...51 Week 12 How Diet Dictates Health and Beauty...55 Week 13 Making the Most of Me With Makeup...59 Week 14 The Importance of Politeness, Poise and Polish Week 15 How to Make My Life Be What It Should Be...71 Week 16 The Role of the Christian Young Lady in Dating...77 Week 17 Finding the Man of Your Dreams Week 18 Pulling It All Together

5 Week 1 Essence of Beauty Memory Verse for the week: I Samuel 16:7 Week 1 Lesson 1 Write the definitions from the glossary for the following vocabulary terms. 1. attitude 2. beauty 3. concept 4. dispel 5. essence 6. inward 7. outward 8. priority 7

6 Week 1 9. purity 10. stature Lesson 2 Read the following text for good understanding. Have you ever known a woman who was absolutely breathtaking to look upon, someone you wished you looked like, only to become acquainted with that same woman and find she wasn t as beautiful as you first assumed? On the other hand, have you ever met a woman and thought, What did her husband ever see in her? and then after a period of time, you realize that she really was beautiful? How about a bride on her wedding day? The week before her wedding she was the same plain Jane you have always known; yet on that day everyone said She makes a beautiful bride. The subject of beauty is not as simple as it may first appear. Many different philosophies and ideas of beauty are floating around in our culture today. However, there is only one philosophy that is really important to the Christian young woman. This philosophy or concept, of course, is God s concept and standard of beauty. This concept should be the most important because God designed us, so He knows what is best. Having studied several different concepts of beauty, I have come to recognize that God s standards for beauty are the most intriguing and fascinating of them all, besides the fact that His standards are true and pure. As you study this course, I pray that you will remember you are seeing beauty through the eyes of God and He, who designed you, fashioned you, and knows you through and through, can make of you the most beautiful woman possible. In I Samuel 16:7, God reminds Samuel not to be overly impressed by the outward stature of man, but rather the Lord dictates a standard of priority. He said: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. What man sees on the outside is important; however, what God sees on the inside is of greatest value. What Man Sees What God Sees 8

7 Week 4 The Essential Element of Inner Beauty Memory Verse for the week: Galatians 5:22-23 Week 4 Lesson 1 Write the definitions from the glossary for the following vocabulary terms. 1. by-product 2. essential 3. gentleness 4. joy 5. love 6. manifest Lesson 2 Read the following text for good understanding. In the two previous chapters, you have reflected on attitudes that ruin beauty from within. You have looked at these undesirable traits through God s eyes and hopefully you have examined your heart to see what might dwell there that would be unlovely to the Lord. Now the time has come to think positively. If you have removed undesirable attitudes from your heart, a void has been created. What must you do now? You must replace the emptiness with something God would find pleasing and beautiful. In the eyes of God, one characteristic stands above all others when it comes to beauty. This quality, mentioned numerous times in the New Testament, has been written and sung about all over the globe. However, this essential element has been misrepresented and misun- 21

8 Week 4 derstood for centuries. The quality to which I refer is the love of God. The love of Christ is the essential element of inward beauty Let us look closely at this trait, and see if it will really make a difference in your external and internal beauty. Before you say to yourself that this idea is ridiculous, think back to the very beginning of our study. We talked about the essence of beauty whatever it is that makes beauty what it is. Let s look again at the two examples that we used. Before you and I can understand any aspect of love, we first must know the Author of love. We know Who this is because the Bible says so in I John 4:8. God is love, and unless you know the love of God and experience His love personally through Jesus Christ, you will never come to grips with the true meaning of love. To know Him personally means to repent of your sin and ask Christ to be your Savior. Once you are born into God s family He can teach you about His precious love. Remember the girl that looked very attractive perfect cosmetics, beautiful clothes and outwardly pretty? Somehow, when you really became acquainted with her, the girl wasn t as attractive as you first assumed. What made her attractive? Was she a warm, kind, compassionate person, or was she cold, insensitive, and slightly self-centered? V7 38 Think of love as a flower. First of all, the seed must be planted in the soil. Likewise, the seed of God s love is planted in your heart when you accept Christ as your Saviour. On the other hand, we discussed the bride on her wedding day. A week before, she was the same plain Jane she had always been, but on that special day, she was beautiful. What do you think made the difference? What was her top priority the day she was married? If you answered, The man she loved, you are right. pl e Pa ge Secondly, the love must grow in order for the full beauty to be evident. This happens as you come to know Christ more personally by studying His Word and applying the truths to your life in your daily walk. As the application occurs, and you begin to allow Him, the Lord will begin to remove some of those ugly qualities that once resided in your heart. The more God s love grows in your heart, the more it overpowers and chokes out the undesirable weeds. LF BC Sa m Love like anger, jealousy, and the others is a quality that manifests itself externally. The love of God, the purest of loves,is not only a quality. It is a way of living. The Beauty of Love ENV Y FEAR ANGER Seed of love planted at salvation 22 CE EN ER IFF IND Real love begins to grow as we know Christ Real beauty comes when He is in control

9 Week transform Lesson 2 Read the following text for good understanding. The so-called mysterious art of self-discipline remains a topic of numerous books, articles, and lectures. In this chapter, we will discuss self-discipline from God s perspective. We will define it, talk about the problems of self-discipline, and finally examine the steps to conquer self. Many ideas should be taken into consideration when pondering this subject. What is self-discipline? What does it involve? Let us define self-discipline as the act of regulating, modifying, or controlling one s surroundings, thoughts, attitudes, and actions. Although this definition may not seem clear now, as time goes on its total meaning should be understood. In order to understand self-discipline from God s view, let me remind you that some synonyms are used in the Scriptures for self-discipline. They are self-control, temperance, and self-denial. Hopefully these words will ring a bell as we look at God s Word. Determining how God sees self-discipline is of utmost value. If He is not concerned with this subject, then we should not waste our time, but if He is concerned about self-discipline most of us have much work to do. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus speaks to His disciples and tells them His qualifications for people to follow Him. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Did you get His first specification? Let him deny himself self-denial. But what exactly did Christ mean? He spoke first of a way of life. If we follow Him, we must be willing to say no to our own plans for our future and say to Him, I will go where you want me to go. We must willingly submit our desires, wants, and dreams, and say, All right, Lord, You know what is best. Take my 74 life. We must present ourselves as a living sacrifice, to love Him completely. Titus 2:12 tells us: Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. To have the self-discipline Christ demands, we must deny ourselves not only our ambitions, but also our carnal nature and worldly desires. However, this self-control or denial is not as simple as it sounds. Problems arise with this subject, I believe, for two reasons. Why do we have problems with self-control? First, because of the outside pressures and philosophies the ways of this world are contrary to the ways of God. Yet we are to be in the world, but not of the world. Every day, everywhere, we are an influence either for Christ or against Him. Not only are the problems of self-denial affected because of the world and outside pressures, but also more dramatically we have a carnal nature within that lends itself to the ways of this world. As Christians, we are simply sinners saved by grace. This adds a different dimension to the situation. Many problematic situations arise in the undisciplined life. One of the most noticeable problems is a girl s surroundings. With what are you surrounded? What types of television shows do you watch? What books do you read? What music do you listen to? All of these things with which you are surrounded will determine what type of person you will become. I once heard a preacher illustrate our two natures by telling of two dogs. Suppose you had two puppies, one dark and one white. You decided to feed one, and one you locked in a pen without food. Which would be the stron-

10 ger? Of course, the one you feed! The same idea applies with your two natures carnal and spiritual. If you are constantly feeding on sensual novels, soap operas, and lustful music, your carnal nature will definitely be the stronger. If you are feeding on God s Word, listening to wholesome music and reading good literature, your spiritual side will be the strongest. Besides problems with our surroundings, we have problems with our thought life. God is Week 15 very concerned with our thoughts. Genesis 6:5 shows us that God pays special attention to mans thoughts. Psalms 139:23-24 tells us that David knew how important a pure thought life is. He said in verse 23: Search me O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts. Why are thoughts so important? As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Whatever your mind dwells on is what will eventually be displayed in your actions. Your actions come from your mind. Our speech needs discipline, but again there is a problem. James 3:7-8 says that every kind of beast has been tamed, but the tongue no man can tame. I would say there exists a problem of self-control in this area with most people. Numerous areas could be examined at this point. Each of us has a problem with discipline, but what do we do about it? We try to control it by following the Word and with the help of the Holy Spirit. Refer to the following chart for the steps to self-control. You have heard the saying, Honesty is the best policy, and certainly, that is true. The first step to having self-control is to see the need that you have. You must see it as a need a need that must be met. You must realize you need help. Secondly, quit making excuses for yourself and face the truth. Well, I am a redhead and a bad temper runs in my family. That is an example of someone making excuses for personal sin. Such a person will never change with that attitude. Thirdly, decide what God wants you to do. Does the Lord want you to be ten pounds overweight? No? Then what are you going to do about it? God s will should be the most important thing in your life. Fourthly, begin meditating on those verses that deal specifically with self-denial and also those that deal directly with your situation (Joshua 1:8). Fifthly, you must flush out the impure thoughts and the garbage you have allowed to enter your heart. Ask God s forgiveness and then cut off the ungodly input and stop it from happening again. Lastly, replace and renew your mind daily with 75

11 Week 15 STEPS to Self Control 76

12 Weekly Quiz 15 Weekly Quiz 15 Self-restraint in conduct; moderation Your actions come from your mind (or what you think in your heart). The act of regulating, modifying, or controlling one s surroundings, thoughts, attitudes, and actions a. Recognize your need for self control Quit making excuses for yourself Decide what God wants Meditate on the Bible e. Flush out impurities Renew the mind daily. Write Proverbs 31:10 below. Page 1