Throughout the Bible and history, God has blessed and used so many women as well as men. The Bible teaches that women and men are equal before God and that both can be used greatly by God when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Just as you can’t be racist when you experience the Holy Spirit, so it’s also not possible to be sexist.
Acts 2:18 says very clearly: ‘Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. Both men and women can be powerfully filled with the Holy Spirit and both men and women can speak the words of God. When the Holy Spirit comes to us we are changed in our thinking, in our attitudes, and in our actions and reactions. When men are filled with the Holy Spirit, they can’t have a macho attitude and be abusive to women. When women are filled with the Holy Spirit, they can’t put men down and have a hatred of men. Any man who is filled with the Holy Spirit will not treat women as second class or worse. And any woman who is filled with the Holy Spirit will not pull men down with unfaithful behaviour and bitter words. In other words: we need to follow the Holy Spirit’s radical plan for women and men.
When you are a real Christian there can be no superiority or inferiority in relationships between men and women. We are all brothers and sisters in the family of God. We need to be a blessing to each other and an example of reconciliation to the world. When the Holy Spirit comes both men and women can change in many ways:
1. We can have a new identity
2. We can have a new unity (Acts 1:14, Romans 16, 1 Timothy 5:2, Galatians 3:28-29)
3. We can have a new authority (Genesis 1:27-28)
Apply
Do you have the right God-given identity in how you see yourself? Do you see and value others as God does? Is there any sexism towards others in your heart or wounds because of sexism or hurtful words you've received? The Bible teaches that God created us in the image of God, both male and female. But because both of them were disobedient to God, the beautiful image that God had for them was ruined. They became divided and in tension with one another. But when Christ shed His blood through his disfigured face, He gave the possibility of a new self-image for both men and women. Now we can all have a new self-image of value and worth. In a male dominated culture Jesus taught, healed and restored the image of countless women who we read about in the New Testament. Women saw in Jesus great compassion, kindness and wisdom, and became his devoted followers.
Women, if you have not been valued or treated well, today you can receive healing in your heart. You can be forgiven for your sins. You can have a new identity in Christ as a much-loved daughter of God. When the Holy Spirit comes to you, He makes you like a new person. Equally, many men need to know that they are loved and valued, despite their troubles and their sins. It’s been said that ‘most men lead lives of quiet desperation.’ That’s why both men and women need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Both men and women can be changed. God can change the heart of the abusive husband, he can change the man who abandoned his family, he can heal the man who was himself mistreated. When you have had a lot of pain in your life, it’s hard to believe that you can have a new identity in your life and in your family. But you can have a new identity and self-respect when you know Jesus and are willing to let the Holy Spirit work in you.
Do you live in unity with members of the opposite sex? Are you quick to honour or to dishonour men / women? Through the work of the Holy Spirit men and women can be reconciled and restored in their relationships. Instead of hurting the opposite sex, you can help them. In the early church where the Holy Spirit was at work there was great unity between men and women (Acts 1:14). Whilst the teachings of the apostle Paul have sometimes been taken wrongly to oppress women, it’s clear in Romans 16 that he praises and honours many women leaders. Paul also gives his younger disciple Timothy clear advice about honouring men and women (1 Timothy 5:2). Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus all sinful barriers of division are broken down (Galatians 3:28-29).
Jesus Christ came to recover and restore what was lost through sin so that we can live in God’s original purpose. In the beginning it was not just man who was blessed and given authority; it was both the man and the woman (Genesis 1:27-28). Our lives, our homes, our churches, our world will have a new authority to bring good when women and men are united. It’s God’s plan to be fruitful together and to rule, to conquer problems together, to raise families together, to build the church together, to extend Christ’s kingdom in the world together. When our world is so divided, we need to model unity between men and women in our families and in the church. For this we need the Holy Spirit to be poured out on us.
Come and kneel down at the Cross of Christ and take time to ask the Holy Spirit to fill and change your heart. For:
• All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory
• All of us need to be forgiven
• All of us need to forgive
• All of us need the Holy Spirit to help us.
Today take time in prayer to repent of any sexism you've allowed in your life - any wrong words you have spoken, wrong attitudes, wrong actions. Receive forgiveness from God and ask the Holy Spirit to help you to forgive others. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you, change you and help you.
