Becoming a Woman of God | Forged | Renee Thrift

March 8, 2026
MESSAGE ONLY

FORGED
Becoming a Woman of God

Week 1 SOUL TATTOO: We’re not falling apart, we’re being forged. 

SOUL TATTOO: Strong and yet still tender.

1.) Precious does not mean fragile.

Proverbs 31:25 (NIV) 25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.

Some of you have walked through:

  • Loss

  • Leadership strain

  • Marriage tension

  • Parenting weight

  • Private heartbreak

And you are still standing.

The fire hasn’t destroyed you, it’s developing you.

SOUL TATTOO: Strong and yet still tender.

2.) The fire is process, not punishment.

Malachi 3:3a (NIV) 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.

Under the Refiner’s fire we see:

  • Fear

  • Insecurity

  • Control

  • Old wounds

Exposure isn’t rejection, it’s refinement.

1 Peter 1:7 (NIV) 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

SOUL TATTOO: Strong and yet still tender.

3.) Forged women bend, they don’t break. 

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NIV) 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

SOUL TATTOO: Strong and yet still tender.

4.) Strength with softness, the holy balance.

Matthew 11:29 (NIV) 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Revelation 5:5 (NIV) 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Galatians 5:22–23 (NIV) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

A woman of God has:

  • A backbone of steel

  • A heart of compassion

  • Firm convictions

  • Soft response

Strong, yet still tender.

5.) The Master Craftsman. 

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Men, ask the Lord to help you see women through Heaven’s lens.

  • Not through culture.

  • Not through past experiences.

  • Not through stereotypes.

Final Soul Tattoo Moment

Women…

  • Do not shrink.

  • Do not harden.

  • Do not apologize for being both.

You aren’t necessarily doing anything wrong. You are being forged.

Even in confusion or struggle, God can use it to form a woman who is: Strong, yet still tender.
When pressure rises: Strong, yet still tender.
When leadership feels heavy: Strong, yet still tender.
When conflict comes: Strong, yet still tender.
You are forged. Strong, yet still tender