Quotes from Carolyn Custis James

In God's eyes, women are not pawns for trading, brides for consuming, bodies to traffic, or passive spectators. They are his image bearers. They are his ezers. That Jesus was willing to die for his daughters tell us how much he truly values us.

When God created human beings in his 'image' and 'likeness,' he was designating us as his representatives on the earth. Instead of running things directly himself, he chose us as his intermediaries to run things here in this world. As his image bearers, we speak and act on his behalf.

Every human being has a strategic role in God's purposes for the world. Every human being possesses a derived significance--grounded in God himself. And every human being is summoned to the highest of all possible aspirations--not to be God, but 'to be like' God himself. God is the standard for who we are and what our mission is in this world. By pursuing this loftiest of all goals, we move toward true flourishing as human beings.

By making us 'a little lower' than himself, God affixed the highest possible value on his daughters and his sons.

Our identity as God's image bearers casts in cement a fundamental equality, dignity, and purpose among all human beings--truth that if embraced and acted on would make the world a better place. But this is just hors d'oeuvres. For God isn't just giving us existence, exceedingly high rank, and the whole world too, which in itself is a lot to absorb. He is giving us himself!

God's vision for us doesn't just reassure us that we matter and that our lives do count for something. God's vision compels us to look beyond ourselves, to ponder a picture of how things were meant to be that leaves us aching for his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, and to look for ways to participate in moving the world toward that goal. One of the biggest issues confronting us today is the battle cry of Amy Carmichael and the burning challenge of Half the Sky.

Women in the Bible are wise teachers. They offer up a boatload of profound theology intended to enrich the whole church's understanding of who God is, what it means to walk with him, and how we are to build his kingdom in this broken world.

Before a single human being set foot on this planet, God had already flung the door wide open, issued an official invitation, and put the welcome mat out.

The prosperity we enjoy shapes both the questions we ask and the answers we embrace.

We are God's eyes and ears, his hands and feet, his voice in this world. He didn't just level the playing field between men and women; he raised the bar sky high for both sexes, for he wants his image bearers to aspire, to push ourselves, and to reach toward the high calling he has entrusted to us.

The God of justice, goodness, righteousness, and beauty created a world that is perfectly designed to reflect who he is.

With a keen eye to take in every detail, we are to focus on who he [God] is, see the world through his eyes, love what he loves, grieve what he hates, and join his cause.