The Real War Against ( Christian) Women

Recently I have heard and observed several Christian women who feel worthless or are under severe oppression, something that i believe is part of a more widespread phenomenon. Over the decades I have seen many times a painful insecurity in various women. I believe this has several symptoms and one major cause. One symptom is the major obsession that our society has with physical appearance where all women are made to feel that they should look like a tiny number of women who are actually genetically abnormal. Instead of believing this widely propagated lie we should look at the truth that, as with every snowflake being different from every other, God has made each of us unique as it pleased Him. In 1 Peter 3:4 God is very clear. "Rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." (NKJV) As with everything else in the Christian life we must make the choice of whether to trust and believe what God says or the lies of the devil. ( John 8:44) Proverbs 31:30 puts this in a slightly different way. "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but the woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." NKJV The true beauty of a woman shines from the inside. A second major source of oppression is abuse, whether physical, sexual or otherwise, sustained as a child. I see women still be tormented and tortured by this many decades later. Several things may help. This was not the fault of the child. Unforgiveness is the spiritual equivalent of cancer. Forgive for your own sake. Jesus paid for that sin. Those who do not repent will suffer the vengeance of the Lord. ( Romans 12:19) Ask for and receive the love of God. ( Romans 5:5, Psalm 31:7, 1 John 4:10) Husbands, fathers and church elders have a responsibility to protect the women that God gives to them whether daughters, wives or unmarried women in the church. We usually think of protection in the physical sense but currently this happens rarely in our society. The real protection needed is spiritual- praying at least daily for the women in your life, and ministering the truth of the Word of God to combat the lies. Godly men need to put on their spiritual armor ( Ephesians 6) and fight for their women. Finally men need to discover and walk in their own identity in Christ- who God the Father says that we are in Him- and minister this to the women in their lives. ( Ephesians 5:25-28) Women also need mature female disciplers to help them grow in Christ.