Jan 07
Today’s Truth
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28 NIV).
Friend to Friend
She was beautiful.
She was bright.
And she was mad at God.
I sat across the lunch table picking at a salad and trying to digest Jan’s words. Her startlingly teal eyes were tinted with frustration at God, primarily because of how she perceived He felt about women.
“I don’t understand God. It seems like He is against women. All through the Bible I see how God used men in mighty ways.
“Abraham, Moses, David, you name it; it is always the men. And polygamy. How could God allow that? Today, there’s so much abuse toward women. Where’s God in all that? There are so many inequalities and injustices between how men are treated and how women are treated. I think the bottom line is that God just doesn’t like women.”
We had a long chat and I shared with Jan what I had discovered on my journey to answer some of those same questions.
As I studied, I was struck by Jesus’ radical relationship with the women whose lives intersected with His during those thirty-three years he walked this earth. He crossed man-made social, political, racial, and gender boundaries and addressed women with the respect due co-image bearers of God. The God-made man broke the man-made rules to set women free. Every time Jesus encountered a woman, he broke one of the societal rules of his day.
God created women as co-image bearers of Himself (Genesis 1:27). But a lot changed between the Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane. By the time Jesus made his first cry in Bethlehem, women lived in the shadows. Women weren’t counted as people (aka the feeding of 5,000 men), couldn’t speak to men in public, weren’t allowed to worship with the men, couldn’t sit under a Rabbi’s teaching, eat with men at social gatherings, or testify in court. Women were divorced for any reason at all and had no legal rights.
But Jesus came to change all that. He didn’t speak out about the injustice; He simply went about His ministry ignoring the man-made rules.
He taught in places where women would be present: on a hillside, along the streets, in the marketplace, by a river, beside a well, and in the women’s area of the temple.
- Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well. It was the longest recorded conversation he had with any one person. She was the first person He told that He was the Messiah. (John 4:1-30)
- Jesus welcomed Mary of Bethany into the classroom to sit at His feet to learn. (Luke 10:38-42)
- Jesus invited Mary Magdalene to join His ministry team. (Luke 8:1-3)
- Jesus encouraged the woman healed from 12 years of bleeding to testify in the presence of all the people what God had done for her. (Luke 8:42-48)
- Jesus welcomed the sinful woman into a room full of men as she anointed his feet with perfume. (Luke 7:36-50)
- Jesus entrusted the most important message in all of history to Mary Magdalene and told her to go and tell the Apostles that He had risen from the dead. (John 20:11-18)
Jesus was willing to risk His reputation to save theirs. He delivered women from diseases and set them free from spiritual darkness. He took the fearful and forgotten and transformed them into the faithful and forever remembered. “I tell you the truth,” He said, “wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” (Matthew 26:13)
And now that brings me to you and to me. Never, dear one, doubt your value as a woman. You were God’s grand finale of all creation. Once He fashioned woman, He was done!
Paul wrote: There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28 NIV). You are never less-than as a woman. And Jesus was willing to break the rules to prove it.
Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, I am so grateful that You value me, as a woman. Thank You for all Jesus did to show honor and respect to women during a very dark time in history. Help me never doubt that You have fashioned me with a purpose and a plan—to be Your image bearer.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
How does it make you feel knowing that Jesus broke cultural rules to honor women…to honor you?
Pick one of the women Jesus honored in this devotion and read her story.
More from the Girlfriends
Sharon’s book, How Jesus Broke the Rules to Set You Free has been revised and updated! The new title is NEVER LESS THAN: Living Esteemed, Empowered, and Equipped When the World Tells You Otherwise. If you’ve ever felt less than because of your past, your present circumstances, or your gender as a woman then this book is for you! This is a message that your daughters and granddaughters need to hear.
Click here for a FREE download of 25 Ways Jesus Honored Women.
© 2022 by Sharon Jaynes. All rights reserved.
Why do men judge women on sooo many shallow things. And why do women allow it? If its not our weight, its our bankroll.
Truth is we as women have been poisoned on the fairytales. We are made to feel like we can’t save ourselves. Or rescue ourselves. Its always we NEED a man.
When will it change? When can women be STRONG? And not bashed….or stripped of her femininity? When?
I just sometimes feel if a woman is stronger (emotionally ) or more intelligent than a man. A true peer. He is vicious to her.
Where is God? Why is it, Jesus allowed women to be treated like this? Its 2022 and life still isn’t fair.
Will it ever be?
I’m sorry that has been your experience, but that isn’t the case for every woman. I feel I have been very respected and honored by my husband. God created woman because if was not good for man to be alone. We are both created in the image of God and we need each other. Yes, women are bashed, but so are men. If you look at sitcoms, it is usually the man who is the brunt of jokes.
Where is God? O friend, I encourage you to look at how Jesus treated women. When you know the background of the rules that were in place regarding women when he walked the earth, you’ll see how he broke those rules to elevate and honor women just as much as he did the men.
As far as life being “fair,” what would be “fair” is for all of us to die and be judged for hell. Praise God he goes beyond what is “fair” and what we deserve and gives us grace. I’ll take grace and mercy over fair anyday.
As to answer, “when will it change?” Let it change with you! Be strong and feminine. Don’t wait for anyone to give you permission. God has already made you to be strong in Him.
I grew up in a family with an alcoholic mother who was very abusive. And even though my sisters and I did suffer I can see how God’s hand was there. My father, who was a Christian, was always praying for us. Much worse things could have happened to us, but they didn’t because of the power of prayer. Why did we have to endure some suffering? Because my mother made the choice to be selfish and sinful. She had the free will to choose her children or her addiction, and she chose. God allowed us to have free will. Some, not all, men, especially those who don’t know God, choose to exercise their free will in sinful ways. But then again, don’t we all do that sometimes? I know I do. I am lucky enough to have married a Christian man, and let me tell you it has made all of the difference in the world. When he needs God to strengthen him to make better choices than those of his sinful nature God helps him to overcome temptation and be better. I think God respects women so much he gave us the blessing of being able to carry a child and give birth. We have SO much power as women and mothers. We are the ones raising those babies, girl and boy babies, into men and women. We have the power to teach them well and lead them to God, or not. In the bible it says that a wife is the neck who turns her husband’s head. That is incredible power. We need to raise these boys to be men who fear God, seek him and strive to be better every day (since Satan never stops tempting them to abuse their power). WE as women have tremendous power that God gave us when he made us mothers to biological children or adopted ones. With great power comes great responsibility.
Hi Veronica. Can you share the verse about the wife being the neck that turns the husband’s head. I’ve heard that saying before (Big Fat Greek Wedding) but I didn’t know if was in the Bible.
I absolutely agree with what Sharon wrote “Let it change with YOU! Be strong and feminine. Don’t wait for anyone to give you permission. God has already made you to be strong in Him.”
YOU have to take responsibility and NOT ALLOW other people to treat you that way. If you do let them, then you can only blame it on yourself, certainly not on our loving God. You can certainly seek God’s help who is always ready and ready to help you. But you’ve got to trust Him and believe He can help you be strong and feminine!
Thanks, Sharon. 🙂 I thought the examples you gave of how Jesus honored women despite societal rules were great.
Gods loves us all.
He does!