|
Loving
the Sisters
by Donna Martin
|
|
“Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Gal. 5:26)
While reading an article by Nancy Wilson, she commented on an off-handed
remark made by the speaker on an audio series that she had been
listening to. The speaker said that women are some of the worst
misogynists [woman-haters] in the world. After giving the article some
thought, I came up with a similar conclusion, however my line of thought
was slightly different from hers. Nancy pointed out that the women’s
movement itself is fueled by a woman-hating agenda. It certainly has not
created unity among unbelieving or believing women, but has rather
divided and alienated them. I can’t
make the statement about the “good ole days,” because I’ve only
been a born again Christian for 20 years. But I do know that there was once far greater unity between Christian women than there is now.
What is it that causes women to be so quick to be critical, envious, and
distrustful of one another? I believe part of the answer has to do with
a sinful sense of competition among sisters that keeps them from
fulfilling their duty to love one another. When sisters are viewed as
the competition, no wonder there is a bent toward criticism and envy. You may wonder
which type of competition I am referring to. Women unknowingly compete
in their methods. Since women tend to be married more to methods than to
principles, they can get defensive about their methods. A
private-schooling mom becomes defensive around the women who have their
children in a home school. A schedule-feeding mom is critical of those
women who demand-feed their babies. Women divide into subgroups in the
church: those who use midwives and those who use doctors; those who home
school and those who don’t; those who have husbands who make the big
bucks and those who don’t; and those who work outside the home and
those who are stay-at-home moms. It
wasn’t until I read Nancy’s article and heard a sermon at our church
that I’ve been able to put this application together. The Scripture
says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph
6:12). To put it plainly, our battle is not against our sisters in
Christ, our husband, our neighbors, or even our parents - but against
the rulers of darkness. These rulers of darkness are causing many of the
problems the Christian has, so we should keep in perspective whom the
attacks are actually coming from. When a sister in Christ comes to you
and says that she believes you are in error about a conviction you have,
return her concern with love. If you are the only homeschooler in your
church and you receive the brush-off from the Christian school crowd,
chase them down with love. If you’ve received disapproval from a
sister in Christ after you’ve tried to nurse your baby, haven’t been
successful, and put your baby onto a bottle - extend love. You are now
enlightened and know that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” and
no longer need to function the same way.
|
