From the very beginning of time Satan has had a
plan: to kill and destroy that which images God. He began his attack in the
Garden of Eden against a woman who bore God's image. Her name was Eve. She
depicted all that was beautiful and feminine about God. She was His final
masterpiece on that sixth day of creation. Think of all the ways we, as human
beings, image God - our bodies, our relationships, and our fertility. These
three elements make up our femininity, and satan attacks each one of those. How?
you might ask. Let's begin by seeing how he attacks bodies. Women have always
struggled with their self-worth and esteem. It doesn't help that in our society
we are bombarded by images of how we are supposed to look - in and out of
clothes.
Everywhere we turn, we see images of beautiful
women, spread out on billboards, magazines on television and in movies. "This is
how you should look" they cry out to us. From early childhood into adulthood,
the standard to look perfect is forever brought before us. "Do I match up?" we
constantly ask ourselves. We buy creams, lotions and potions. We starve
ourselves so that we fit into that size whatever. We spend endless hours at the
gym, shaping and molding our bodies so that we look like that Hollywood starlet
we admire.
If we would just grasp what Scripture teaches: we
are God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10), complete in Him (Col. 2:10), and the
fragrance of Christ (2 Cor. 2:15) Attack #1: our bodies.
Satan doesn't stop there. He attacks our
relationships by undermining that one relationship which depicts Christ and the
Church - marriage. It says in Ephesians 5: 31-32: " "For
this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,
and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery- but I am talking
about Christ and the church." Paul is saying that this marriage
relationship between a husband and a wife is the greatest depiction of Christ's
love for His Bride, the Church. We know that there is no marriage in heaven,
quite frankly because it isn't needed. Marriage is an institution here on earth
to show others Christ's sacrificial love for us. Our marriages should reflect
who God is and His great love. For someone who
has been married 17 years, that is quite an expectation to have but one that I
try to work on every day. Satan knows that marriages image God and does all he
can to destroy them. Obviously we can look around and see his effectiveness
since statistics show that half of all marriages end in divorce, the antonym of
God. Attack #2: Our relationships, especially marriage.
Another area that Satan attacks us as women is
our fertility. Fertility is the ability to give life to another human being.
God created our wonderful gynecological systems as a beautiful way to create
a new life. The sad thing is that most women have no clue how their body
works. Part of Satan's plan is that we would remain clueless because when we
do we usually make poor choices with our bodies by giving away the gift of
our virginity and devaluing our fertility. We buy into a contraceptive
mentality by either suppressing the gift of our fertility or doing away with
it all together. And if that wasn't enough, Satan gets us to buy into the
lie that we have the "right" to kill our unborn children because it is our
body. Attack #3: Our fertility.
Are you starting to see his plan? "The
thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy" says John 10:10a. But
the good news is this: John 10:10b says "I have come
that they may have life and have it to the full." Satan might have
come to destroy us, but Jesus came to give us life! That is good news! There
are three things that we, as women, can do. First, we need to understand the
battle. We need to understand that there actually is a battle going on that
is an all out assault on womanhood. Ephesians says "For
our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against
the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12).
We need to know our enemy and his schemes. Then we will be able to fight.
Second, we need to prepare for the battle.
Ephesians 6 goes on to talk about putting on the full armor of God. When we
do battle, we can't go out unprepared in our undies! We need to put on the
armor of God so that "when the day of evil comes,
you may be able to stand your ground…" (Ephesians 6:12). When we put
ourselves in the posture of the offense instead of the defense, we will be
ready to handle the attacks.
Third, we need to know who we are and WHOSE we
are. Knowing who we are in Christ and that we are delivered from the power
of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13) will
enable us to understand that even though there is a battle, God has given us
what we need to win it. The work has already been done on the cross and we
win!
So, let us take back our femininity! Our
womanhood is something to be celebrated and valued. Let us do battle against
the enemy of our souls and fight to be who we were created to be: image
bearers of our Heavenly Father. There is no greater honor than that. Put a
smile on your beautiful face and go show the world that God doesn't make any
junk!
Katy Flood, LAS, is Heartbeat International's
Sexual Integrity Specialist with over 20 years experience in life-affirming
ministry. Katy travels the world motivating and training men and women on
the beauty of embracing God's plan for our sexuality. Katy and her husband,
Steve, live in Lewistown, Pennsylvania with their three sons.
