Social media today is rife with statements like…
'I'm an independent woman, I don't need a man!'
'I don't need a man to tell me what to do!'
‘What a man can do, a woman can do better!’ and so on and so forth.
It’s almost as if we’re in a battle of the sexes and women are trying by brute force to get what’s theirs in a male dominated world.
Now this knee jerk reaction from our women though natural and understandable going by the years of devaluing & sidelining which has progressively turned them into modern day 'freedom fighters’ who feel they have to constantly fight for their position in society, is inexcusable to God especially if you’re a Christian woman.
The Christian woman cannot afford to swim with the tide.
She can’t allow herself to think, talk or behave like those who don’t know God on this issue.
She needs to stand out like a sore thumb in a world where many women hardly listen, respect let alone submit to their men or any male authority for that matter.
A world where women treat submission to any male authority as weakness and a subjugation of their rights.
A world where women give thunderous rounds of applause and staunch 'amens' to feminist statements like, ‘A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle’. (Who needs men anyway, right?)
A world where women pride themselves on being difficult to deal with..posting stuff like, ‘I need a strong man to handle me!’ (Why do you need to be handled? Are you a zoo animal?)
A world where women call men weak if they can’t put up with them. (Last time I checked, he was looking for a partner not 12 rounds in the ring with Mike Tyson!)
A world where women are constantly demanding equality with men by law when God has already made them equal by birth.
The spirit of 'equal rights' that demands equality between genders was never intended by God because to Him we are all equal.
You see God transacts business with our spirits not our gender.
To Him, the body is like a phone casing.
We may have different casings, but we have the same essence (the spirit man).
This difference in casing doesn’t make men superior and women inferior or vice versa.
This is a complimentary difference for the sake of fulfilling God's purpose.
That said, God in His wisdom, made the man the head of the woman.
Somewhere along the way, we’ve been conditioned to believe or picture this as a bad thing but to God, it simply boils down to purpose, position & order.
This is the same with the Godhead (Father, Son & Holy Spirit).
The Godhead is the perfect example of equal Beings submitting to each for the sake of purpose, position and order.
It has nothing to do with superiority or inferiority because Scripture makes it clear that They are equals.
In Philippians 2:6, Paul speaking of Jesus says:
“Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” (NLT)
If this is not the perfect example of submission, I don't know what is.
Submission is an act of the will...it's a choice made out of revelation not coercion.
Jesus says, ‘..no one can take My life from Me but I sacrifice it voluntarily.’ (see John 10:18)
Likewise, a Christian woman needs to submit not because a man tells her to, not because society says so but because the word of God says so.
The default of every Christian woman (or Christian in general) should be Scripture. Your opinion doesn’t matter.
Your role as a suitable helper for the man necessitates you submit to him whether you like it or not.
So you can let the world influence you on the matter or you can let the word of God settle the matter.
The bottom line is women were not meant to operate independent of men and likewise men were not meant to operate independent of women.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:12:
“In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman; for although the first woman came from man, every other man was born from a woman.“
We are wired for each other; a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship between equals in God’s eyes.
As a Christian woman, you may be more powerful in status than your man, have a better job than him, earn more than him, be more educated than he is, or think you are wiser or more clever than he is but that doesn’t make you the head of him.
Just like a son can never be greater than his father no matter how much money or accolades he accumulates, the woman can never be the head of a man and any attempt to do so is a clear violation of God's order.
Now that said, here are some words for the men...
Firstly, women are not afterthoughts.
They are very much in the plans of God.
The Bible says, 'He created them male and female and blessed them.' (see Genesis 1:27, 5:2)
Secondly, we cannot treat them like second class citizens.
Just because God gave us headship does not give us the green light to domineer or mistreat them.
Matter of fact, as a man you have no right to demand submission if you yourself are not submitted to anyone else.
You'd be exercising illegal authority by demanding submission without being submitted yourself.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:3:
"But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God."
So any man who is not under any authority, especially that of Christ, is not really a qualified authority...and a man under no authority is a dangerous man!
When a man is answerable to no one, who will the wife appeal to when the husband is stubborn and won't listen to her?
A woman has a right to ask,“who are you under?”, before she comes under you otherwise you may lead her into a pit.
But in essence, you need to understand that she is there to help you fulfill your purpose, not to compete with you, so don't feel intimidated and don't look down on her or frustrate her.
A helper is NOT inferior or weak.
I bet you will agree with me that weak is not an adjective we use to describe the Holy Spirit, yet Jesus calls Him 'Helper'. (see John 14:16, John 16:7)
Infact in John 14:16 He calls Him 'another Helper' to imply that He (Jesus) is a Helper too and I assure you, Jesus is no namby-pamby weakling!
When it comes to help, the one who is helping you must be as strong as you or even much much stronger as is the case with Jesus & the Holy Spirit.
Bottom line is the same spirit man that is in you as a man is in her as a woman so don't let the casing fool you.
Peter says in 1 Peter 3:7:
“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
Now 'weaker' here does not mean LITTLE or NO strength, it simply means delicate.
Women are more delicate than men...remember, purpose necessitates design.
And because women are more delicate, they need to be handled as such.
So it doesn't matter whether you're a powerful man of God, speak in 1001 tongues, carry around the biggest Bible, cast out 100 demons before lunch, have bucket loads of cash in the bank or have tons of followers on social media, if you mistreat women especially your wife, you're a failure in God's eyes.
Infact, Paul says you're worse than an unbeliever. (see 1 Timothy 5:8)
So if you want to measure a man's success, don't look at his bank account or how many things he owns or accolades he has, look at his wife.
A man is as successful as his wife looks!
Now this message is important because we need to fight a ton of traditions & ingrained ungodly beliefs.
The fact is, the law may make women feel equal but it can't make men think they are.
So this transcends just coming up with laws but requires men, especially godly men, to reprogram their minds to line up with God's word and original intent regarding male and female relationships.
The word of God must be our default as believing men and women.
We must silence all dissenting voices that are contrary to it as far as this matter is concerned, regardless of our gender.
God bless you.
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