Lies

This week's question from Christian Women Online is...

What are some lies out in the world (secular views) today about women that contradict what God says in His word about how women should be/act? Diving a little deeper…What are some lies that are still out there in our Christian circles about women?

Hmmm, this is a question that I approach with caution for two reasons, firstly I am not as familiar with the Bible as this question suggests I should be; and secondly - despite the first reason I do know that there are sections of the Bible that we just would not dream of applying to modern life such as killing someone for working on the Sabbath (and I have to admit that I only know this because I watched the West Wing!)

My first thought is that the Bible was written in a vastly different era and while Christians should at least study it in order to develop a deeper understanding of their faith, I do not think that we should take it as written (!) that this is what God says. Which, I know, is a strange thing to say seeing as the Bible does form the basis of the Christian faith! But, what I do think that we need to remain aware of is that the Bible is God's word as interpreted by others, i.e. the patriarchal society that was in force when the Bible was written, and we need to reinterpret it according to today's society.

But that's getting off the subject! I think that one of the strongest secular views about women is that there is the perfect size for women, you know what I mean - women are denigrated for being too fat, too thin, too short, too tall, too whatever! So how on earth are we supposed to know what the 'perfect' image is if we are bombarded from all directions that we are too something?

I am certain that there are others who could select better snippets from the Bible, but like I hinted above - I am just beginning to find my way around the Bible and my own faith, so here goes...in Isaiah 29:16 it says

Shall the potter be regarded as the clay? Shall the thing made say of its maker, "He did not make me"; or the thing formed say of the one who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

This to me completely throws out the general societal view that women should attain the perfect image, after all, who are we to say that God got it wrong by creating the tall or skinny or brunette or deaf or autistic or whatever else we may be! Okay, so I am not actually focusing on what the Bible specifically says about women, but the point is that there is no standard that we are held to other than we were made in his image as it says in Genesis.

I feel as though I could say a lot more about this, but then I get all tangled up in what I feel about this particular issue and how so many women (and men) deal with such emotional trauma because in the eyes of others they are not perfect or even attempt to attain a standard; when what we should really be doing is accepting each other for who we are rather than frowning at them because they have another biscuit or even frowning at them because they are picking at a salad and not eating enough!

Argh - like I said - I think I could waffle on for a books worth on the subject, so I will leave it at the point that there is no such thing as the perfect image and that there are far more important things in life to worry about!