Good evening. I would like to first welcome everyone here tonight. I thank you for joining us on this special occasion. It's an occasion that I've waited for for many years now. For many years, when I talk about children and about parenting or issues like that or family, I'm constantly told, just wait until your child becomes a teenager. And my response to that is, I can't wait. Praise God on the day that I will be able to say that I have teenagers, because I see them now. I can only imagine what they're going to be like as teenagers. You see, Chloe, as we go into this tonight, and those of us who are here, family and friends, you're going to be witness to this as I talk to Chloe and instill in her what it is to be a godly woman and a biblical woman. You see, Chloe, the world tells us that you grow from a child, then you go into this stage in between childhood and adulthood called adolescence. And you spend many years in that stage of adolescence and then finally you come out in adulthood. Well, Chloe, I'm going to go ahead and tell you that throughout history that has not been the case. Throughout nearly 2,000 years, of Christendom, that's not been the case. People have went from being children to being adults. Now, Chloe, as we go through this, you'll see that this is not an instant thing. You're not instantly from a child to an adult. You become an adult and you continue to grow and become more of a godly woman daily. And you'll see that as we go into this tonight. But as we go in, that's what we are here today tonight to do, is to charge you with becoming a biblical Chloe, the first place we want to look at is Titus. Your mother's already went through Proverbs 31. I want us to now look at Titus chapter 2 verse 4 and 5. It says that they might teach their young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, to chase keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Chloe, there are many things here that a biblical woman is. The first we see is sober. Now when we hear the word sober we usually think of drugs and alcohol and having those not any part of our body. We are sober because we do not have alcohol in us. We are not under the effects of mind-altering substances. But Chloe, let me assure you there are more than just alcohol and drugs that can alter the well-being of our mind. First we have being sober is Your mind is not clear. It's not clear to think as it should. We can pollute it with many things. From cartoons to whatever. Chloe, the world would have you think that you need to fill your mind with things like Hannah Montana, the latest toys, video games, music, and the such. You fill your minds with these enough and you will not be able to think Biblical when the time comes. Just as you can't think in a right mind when you're under the influence of alcohol, Chloe, if you are under the influence of the world, when it comes time for you to make biblical decisions, you will not be able to make them accurately because the world has influenced your decision. So we must be sober of mind, meaning we must keep a mind that is full of biblical knowledge and biblical wisdom, not full of just fluff or as we would call it, stuff that maybe it's not necessarily bad, but it's not good. And occasionally those things may be okay, but if you fill your mind with those, you will not be filling your mind with God's Word. So we must be sober of mind. Boy, the next thing a young woman must be, or a godly woman, biblical woman, she must love her husband. Now I know this may sound weird, coming from a father to his 13-year-old daughter, to love your husband. Chloe, you are to love your husband. I do not know who this husband is. Chloe, you do not know who this husband is. It may be somebody we know. It may be somebody who God has not sent through our path yet. But you are to start loving them now, not at the altar. Proverbs 31 says that the Proverbs 31 woman did her husband well all the days of her life. She honored her husband, Chloe, all the days of her life. It doesn't say when she got married, she began to honor her husband the rest of her life. It said all the days of her life, meaning from the days of her youth, she honored her husband. She did not run around and do things that would bring him dishonor. There are things that we would look at for a married couple and say that brings the spouse dishonor. She refrained from all of those. She had a love for her husband. Chloe, you need to learn that love now, not when you get married. The next thing is, she was a lover of children. And Chloe, just as you must be a lover of husband, and you're not old enough for a husband yet, you're not ready for children. She must be a lover of children, your children, not when you have them. The world would say, have your children and then love them. And if you look around, there's not too many people. Chloe, if you look around tonight, everyone here with children, love their children. But Chloe, if you fill your heart with love of other things that your children ought to be taking the place of, when they come, when your children arrive, you're going to have to battle between the love of these things and your children. Chloe, if you fill your life with the love of vanity, the love of materialism, when you have children, those children are going to hinder that materialism. Do not pour your love out for things. Go ahead and pour your love out for children. That when you have them, that Chloe, you long for the day that you have your children. A godly woman will love her husband, and she will love her children, and she will love them in that order. She will not go out and have children and then find a husband. The husband who God has called her to be with, that's who she will be with and bear him children. And again, the Bible puts it in that order. Chloe, the Bible also tells us that you're supposed to be discreet. Meaning you're to have self-control. Not to be flashy, not boisterous and loud, but have self-control. Being able to control thyself, Chloe. Your anger. Chloe, it is popular for women to be considered a strong woman because they are not afraid to go off the handle. They are not afraid to say what they are thinking. That is not a discreet woman. Chloe, you need to have self-control over that. Now, there may be times as a godly and biblical woman that you must stand up and you must be bold. Chloe, those are not the daily attributes of a discreet biblical woman. You must control your tongue. A biblical woman is not full of gossip, not full of slander and malice. Culture would say, When someone wrongs you, you tell everybody. The Bible says that is not becoming of a godly woman. Chloe, the Bible also tells you that you must be chaste. You must be modest and pure. Chloe, modesty... We like to think of it as what we wear. And while that is a big part of being modest, it is not all. Yes, modest is of appearance. It's only the way you cover your body. As we talked about earlier, you are bringing your husband honor. Even though you are not yet married and have no idea who your husband is, the way you dress, the way you cover yourself, you will protect your body that will one day be his. You must be modest in appearance. To bring honor to your husband? To bring honor to your children? To bring honor to your mother and I, your siblings, and most importantly, to bring honor to King Jesus. The prophecy is also of the heart, Chloe, not just of address. It says that you want to honor these things. You want to honor mother and father. You want to honor your husband. And you want to honor Jesus Christ. Therefore, you will not allow things that should not be allowed. You will not do things with your body, with your mind. You will not give your heart away, Chloe. The world would say that you need to play marriage until the day you find that person you are married to. Chloe, I'm going to tell you going from boy to boy until you find your husband is nowhere in the Bible where you find that that is found straight from the pits of hell and in modern day philosophy. It is not of the Bible. You must keep yourself pure until the day You are married. Now, Chloe, this next attribute is probably going to be one of the most controversial you're going to deal with as a woman. As you go out, this is the one that most people are going to disagree with you on. Some vehemently and militantly oppose you on this. That is, the Bible says you are to be a keeper at home. Chloe, notice this does not say a keeper of the home. It says you are to be a keeper at home. You cannot be a keeper at home if you are away from your home. Chloe, the Bible is clear, there is no higher calling for a woman than that of wife and mother. Culture says that's not the case. Culture says you need to go to the CEO, you need to be a corporate person to get your own identity. But that's not what the Bible says, Chloe. The Bible says you are to be a keeper at home and you will be known and your husband will be known in the gates by the way you keep the home. Chloe, if you go off and you are not a keeper at home, you will be being a helpmate to someone else. The Bible says you are to be a helpmeet to your husband. You cannot be a helpmeet to your husband while you are supporting and being a helpmeet to another man. Chloe, you are to be a keeper at home. And that is why we are training you now. So that you know these things when the time comes. Chloe, you are to be good. It says a godly woman is good. She is kind, Chloe. She has a gentle spirit. She is not known as one who is rough and has manly features. She is kind and gentle and without bitterness. Koishi is hospitable. She will show hospitality to others. And that is why, Chloe, you have seen us show hospitality in our home to many people. Chloe, you will now begin your task of showing hospitality in our home. As you now become a young godly woman, you will begin this task. You will be responsible for being hospitable. Chloe, the next thing it tells you is that you are to be obedient to your husband. Chloe, again it goes against culture, but a biblical woman follows her husband's lead. The husband is the head of the home. And Chloe, as your father and your mother, we are doing what we do to show you what a biblical husband and wife are supposed to be. Your mother follows my leadership and Chloe, I lead with fear and trembling sometimes. But we do this so that you can see what it is to be a wife. So your brothers can see what it is to be a husband. Chloe, the modern world would tell us that you live your life and you have fun with your toys and your games until the day you go to the altar and then you become a wife. He becomes a husband and you figure out then what a married couple is supposed to be. That is not the way it's supposed to be. You are supposed to know before you get there how you are to act. And that is what we are doing. That is why we do some of the things we do, Chloe. It's so that when you stand at the altar and you covenant with your husband, you will know what a godly wife is supposed to be like. Now, Chloe, I'm going to tell you. Most of these things we have talked about have some form of controversy. They're controversial in nature, in the culture we live in. Chloe, for nearly 1900 years, since Christ walked the earth, these things were not controversial. But modern culture came into play, and now they are. I'm here to tell you these are not merely good suggestions and they are not out of touch ideas from days gone by. Chloe, these are the words of God and I want you to listen. If we look at this verse one more time, it gives you these. It says that you will be sober, love their husbands, love their children, be discreet, be chaste, be keepers at home, be good and be obedient to their husbands and then it gives you a warning it says that if you do not do these things the word of God will be blasphemed it says do these so that the word is not blasphemed you will bring dishonor to the word of God when you disregard these attributes of being a godly woman Chloe it says Chloe that This is what a godly woman is supposed to be. And when we look at this, and we say, I will not do this, because that is not what is popular today, what we are saying is, I know better than God. When we say, I don't think God intended me to do that, we are saying, I know better than what God knows. We are putting ourself in front of, in place of God, and saying, this is the way it ought to be. God gave us his word and said, live like this. We are living a different way. We are calling ourselves a child of God and then living a way that God says we are not to live. That is blasphemy and it brings dishonor to the name of Jesus Christ. And Chloe, we are to have no part of that. Now, we have out of the way what a biblical woman is supposed to be. Now, Chloe, you know that I can talk about this. for weeks. And I also told you I would keep this short. So now I ask Chloe that you would come up here with me. Sit here. Now in front of everyone, Chloe, we're going to covenant. I'm going to covenant with you. But first, I'm going to charge you with a few things, Chloe. I'm going to charge you with the following. That Chloe, you will turn your fancies to being what God would have you to be and not what culture would make you. That your heart desire, Chloe, would be to be more like Christ and not more like the culture. Chloe, you would become daily more of a biblical woman. My goal, Chloe, is that I will become a biblical man more and more each day. Today we charge you with becoming a biblical woman. Chloe, this is not something that ends today. Becoming a biblical woman starts today and it will end when Jesus Christ reaches his arms around you and brings you home. And until that day comes, you are to grow every day. Chloe, I charge you to remain true to your husband. Again, you have no idea who this man will be. But I pray now and I charge you to remain true and faithful to him until the day you covenant at the altar of God. Chloe, I charge you that you would be true to your mother and I. That you would follow us. You would listen to us. You would follow our guidance. Heed our warnings. Chloe, I pray and I charge you to remain true to your siblings. As the oldest, you are a trailblazer. You will do things that they will not do. You will do things for the first time. Sometimes we find that we realize those weren't wise things. I pray that you will be true to your siblings, Chloe. That you will teach them and you will lead them. You have a responsibility not to stray and wander from the Word of God. They look up to you and if you stray from the Word of God, Chloe, there's a chance they will follow. We pray that you will be true to them. I pray, Chloe, and charge you to be true to the Word, true to God's Word, to study it and be diligent, to learn it and hide it in your heart. I charge you, Chloe, to still be true to prayer, to start your day and end your day with prayer, talking to the Father. And, Chloe, I pray that you are true, most of all, to Jesus Christ. All of these attributes that we have talked about tonight, Chloe, they are nothing. You can be chaste and you can be a lover of your husband and children and all these things, but if you fail to be a follower and a lover of Jesus Christ, it is all vanity and matters not. You see, Chloe, we must be careful not to look at these things and think about that we get our righteousness from these things. but realize we get our righteousness from one thing and that is Christ alone and Christ crucified on the cross it is the blood of the cross of Calvary that was shed that day that gives us the righteousness not these attributes but because of what Christ did on the cross and the love he poured out we should long to be what he would have us be now Chloe I charge you with these things and now I covenant with you A covenant, and let me make sure you know, Chloe, a covenant is not a contract that says, you do these things and I will do this. A covenant says, Chloe, I will do these things. Now you have to remain under me. You have to remain following me. And I will do these things. I will, Chloe, provide, protect, and shepherd you until the day you leave and cleave to your husband. I will provide physically. I will provide you clothing and food and shelter. I will provide you these things, Chloe. Warmth. I will provide for you spiritually. I will make sure you are reading the word. I will make sure you have proper spiritual guidance. Chloe, I will protect you. I will protect you spiritually. I will protect you, Chloe. I will make sure that the wolf does not get in. When I do see that, I will put on the armor of God and I will go to spiritual battle and warfare for you, Chloe. I will give my all spiritually in battle for your soul. I covenant to protect you physically. Chloe, I will be there just as I will put on the armor of God and protect you spiritually. I will pick up the sword if need be and protect you physically. And I covenant with you in front of these people, Chloe, to protect you emotionally. I covenant to be there if you need me. To be there if you want to come in and simply say, Daddy, I need to talk. Daddy, I need to tell you something. I covenant before these people to be there for you. Before I am at my job, before I am at my career, I will be there for you. Now, Chloe, Proverbs 22 verses 5 and 6 says, Thorns and snares are in the way of the forward. He that doeth his soul shall keep far from them. Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not depart. Chloe, the Bible tells us there are thorns and snares. These are not things God puts out. Thorns and snares are in the way of the wicked. And if I go through the path, I will lead you away from these thorns and snares. If you follow behind me, Chloe, I will lead you away. Now there may be a thorn or snare that we trip on. I will chop it down. I will do my best to get it out of the path. But if you follow my lead, you will stay away from these. Otter cultures, Chloe says that we are to go forward through them and show our strength as we challenge these thorns and snares. That is not the case. Now, Chloe, in your walk, we may be down in the valley. We may walk down in the valley and we will walk sometimes on the high points, in the high places. But nowhere in the Bible does it tell us we need to go through the snares and the thorns. It says those are for the wicked and we want to keep our soul. We will stay far from them. Chloe, I want to close out as I covenant these things in front of you, with you, in front of all these people. These are people who mean the most to us in our life, our closest family, many of our close friends. And I covenant with you today as your father to do these things until the day I hand you off to your husband. Chloe, welcome to Biblical Womanhood.