Why (re)Purposed?
The intricacies of salvation are astonishing to our humanity. For anyone who has been reborn, something undeniably divine occurs with the transformation of our hearts. Something we can’t take credit for. Something we can’t fully define.
I can search my mind for life before Christ and, though it wasn’t that long ago, it feels like a century. As if that person I once was never actually existed. For those of us who were saved at a young age this sensation often manifests itself in a deep understanding of rebellion. We can’t imagine a life without Christ and so as life moves on wonder for the “other side” tempts us—and we feel that deeply.
Salvation creates in us a heart for the Lord. A heart that beats in a fallen world, entering a spiritual battle every day. We are tempted with the world's version of joy and fulfillment and constantly fight against the pull of our flesh. This continuous battle is why we need discipleship. Salvation is by grace through faith in our Lord and Savior, but this free gift comes with a responsibility to grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18). As a new creation we are compelled to learn what it looks like to mirror Christ and live for God and God alone—repurposed for the mission of the church over the mission of self.
What Christ Did
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
As professing believers we testify to the work and person of Jesus Christ. We believe that we were dead in our tresspasses, separated from God, and needed salvation. This faith has freed us from our sin and brought to life our deaf ears. Christ took on what we deserve, God’s wrath. He paid the penalty. He carried the burden. Not just for past sins but all sins. Jesus Christ accomplished what we never could.
Because of this gift we have a new way of seeing. Christ becomes the lens by which we understand the world. We are filled with gratitude for the One who took on our debt, and we are compelled to devote our earthly life for his namesake.
Understanding our faith from this foundation begs the question, how? How do we devote ourselves to our Savior? How do we worship rightly? How do we grow in grace and knowledge?
It starts with God’s Word.
Anyone can pick up the Bible and “understand it.” But believers have the Spirit living inside of them, which means when we read the Bible we see the significance of the text. We see Christ at the center. We see who he is and what he’s done out of complete love for us. Through this seeing, we build a relationship. A relationship that is rooted deep in grace and love.
What We Do
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
This deep, devoted relationship with God is why we were created. To love him and worship him with our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Once saved, we have the opportunity to do so. We are called to be set apart—to pursue righteousness and holiness. As we read the Bible with a motive to know God, praise God, and live for God we, by his grace, will succeed at those very objectives. His grace over our lives ensures our desire for him, but we have a responsibility to walk.
A responsibility to pick up the Bible.
A responsibility to rightly handle it.
A responsibility to pursue growth.
A responsibility to be a part of the bigger picture—to see ourselves as tools for the mission of God, the means by which he brings about salvation. And so it is by our conduct, our posture, and our lives that we are to be new in thinking, repurposed for sharing the love of Christ that we have come to know.
What You’ll Find Here
Our sanctification is not an isolated journey. We are sanctified through both individual intimacy with the Lord but also through the fellowship of the body. Jesus told his twelve disciples to go and make disciples, teaching them what he had commanded them (Matthew 28:19-20). This is not an isolated command. Our story—God’s story—does not end with our salvation. The call to pursue righteousness and grow in grace and knowledge demands teaching. Just as Jesus taught by observation, invitation, and intentionality so too are we.
What does it mean to love Jesus?
What does it mean to speak the Gospel into our lives?
What does it mean to be humble?
What does it mean to be a Godly wife?
What does it mean to speak truth in love?
The list goes on, and we get to spend the rest of our lives learning and growing until one day we enter into the fullness of God, no longer burdened by the fallenness of this world.
And this is why Women (re)Purposed exists: to fill a gap that broken families, tough circumstances, painful experiences, unknowns seasons, and new beginnings may have left in your life. To speak truth, encourage and equip you in this repurposed life, and to send you out, back into the local body of Christ to do the same.
As we write, speak, and create we each have a specific face in mind. A face that once covered our own. Expressions of hunger, idleness, curiosity, confusion. And rooted in it all is longing. For many of us God feels unreachable and unknowing despite the truth we see revealed in pastors, scholars, and teachers. We see wisdom, knowledge, and joy for the Lord all around us and ask ourselves, how can I get there? Discipleship.
Our great commission remains, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age .” Matthew 28:19-20
We learn from those who have gone before us. We learn from those who are right there beside us. We learn by bringing others alongside us. A deep, devoted relationship with God may begin within the individual, but whatever we learn in that space is bloomed in community. The prayer of Women (re)Purposed is to come alongside you in that effort, ultimately learning from our greatest Teacher, Jesus, together.
Thanks for meeting us here. May we pursue lives that glorify Jesus’ name.