Men and women are uniquely anointed and gifted by God, created separately yet equally in His eyes, but there is no doubt that there has been a battle of the sexes since the female gender emerged from the dirt with a strong opinion.
While women who are snared by the modern feminism deception try to outdo men or overtake them or publicly humiliate them, emasculate them or dominate them, plenty of women who aren’t so overt are still giving as good as they get.
And when it comes to how women relate to other women--let’s get real. We know women can be some of the most vicious, conniving, manipulative people to each other if we really get our superpowers worked up.
But women can also be the most compassionate, sensitive, nurturing and supportive as well, if we tap into those superpowers. We women can be any number of things at any given time, which is typically incredibly perplexing to men, but we women “get” each other, don’t we?
We can guess what each other is thinking or feeling with little more to go on than the arch of an eyebrow.
Women have unique powers in the world, distinct from men, and unique struggles with the sin nature, distinct from men as well.
So, when it comes times to strip off sanctification, win through sin and you’re ready to punch someone in the face and burn the house down, what’s a girl to do?
Go Back to the Very Beginning
The first thing to do when you’re struggling with the sin nature is recognize the root. The fact is that everyone in Christ struggles against their sin nature.
Like Paul wrote, “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18-19).
But even further back than that, part of the curse that the Lord handed Eve was that her desire for control would be an ever-present struggle. In the garden, the Lord’s punishment was infused into the nature of womanhood thereafter and the other component of that curse was that a woman’s husband would dominate her.
(Note: That is not an excuse for abuse or a justification for men to seize power through force).
But the root was the desire for power and control. That manifests differently in every woman and many times it is not even a conscious desire (although in some women it is!)
That desire is the root of the “Jezebel spirit”, the feminine spiritual power of the enemy who wants to seduce the world away from the true power of God the Father.
The desire for power is why women do things like withhold sex in a marriage for manipulative reasons, use emotional control to get their way, gossip, dress immodestly, give dirty looks and the silent treatment, whine, harass, weep and scream—to name a few.
Fight from Within
While men tend to manifest their inward struggles with sin outwardly like a big, lumbering grizzly bear swinging its massive paws, women are more like the lioness—stalking, watching and waiting for the right time to pounce and go for the jugular.
To fight against your struggle for power or control any given situation, or against a person by using sinful methods, you must know what you’re fighting against, and usually it’s against yourself.
Women tend to struggle with sin the most when they are responding to something they were already feeling—inadequate, ugly, underappreciated, jealous, afraid or traumatized, ashamed, taken advantage of, mocked or humiliated, stupid, overlooked and more.
We women all struggle with those things because the enemy would love nothing more than to see us endlessly victimized and living in defeat so we’re endlessly reacting in pain and projecting that pain onto others instead of taking the actions of faith and waiting on the Lord’s help for how to address the seasons and situations in our lives.
If you’re going to fight against the sin nature that rises up in you, you’ll need to start fighting now, from within, before the battle outside of you begins.
Here’s the thing, you’re already in a battle. Paul wrote, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
How do you fight? “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16-17).
A lifestyle of worship, prayer and the Word are how you begin to hone your spiritual weapons and become a master at wielding them against the enemy, growing in strength, knowledge and wisdom, so that in the day of adversity, you’re ready to fight like a woman of God.
The Fight of Faith
You’ve been given unique weapons as a woman, to navigate your way in the world. But the enemy wants to twist what God has given you so you resemble the curse and not Christ, who broke the curse.
Your battlefield is yourself, first. Ask the Lord to show you the roots of your struggle and then seek His Word for wisdom and the battle plan. Ask a woman of battle and victory to help you.
Push yourself past your feelings and refuse to respond in the natural before you have sought help from the supernatural power of God. These are not easy things to do and many women struggle in battle because they’re fighting the wrong fight!
Your sin nature will be ever-present, even if you crucified it with Christ, because your enemy wants to see you defeated and he will use you against yourself at every opportunity, but God is an ever-present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).
The closer you draw to the Lord, the more you’ll start to see your battles become a fight of faith, instead of endlessly “wrestling with flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:12).
Proverbs 14:1 says, “A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.” Whatever “home” you live in, it is yours to build however you see fit—or tear down however you see fit.
You have that power. Your words, your looks, your demeanor, your countenance, your responses, your emotional temperature and your spiritual maturity are all under your control.
Embrace a Steady Diet of Fruit of the Spirit
Even the most godly woman you can think of wrestles against the flesh and the temptation of the same sinful responses that you struggle with.
If you’re losing the battle, it’s time to learn how to fight! The enemy wants you to ruin your marriage. The enemy wants you to take your pain out on your children.
He wants to tank your career. The enemy wants to destroy your hopes and dreams and plans. He wants you exhausted, depressed and overwhelmed. He doesn’t want you to worship, finding joy (Psalm 16:11) or resting in the presence of God.
He doesn’t want you in the Word, drawing strength and wisdom. He doesn’t want you in prayer, praying for your enemies and those who use you because that’s how you’ll win over sin!
The root cause of our struggles is the same in all women because of the curse of sin, but the responses and the outcomes are not the same.
You can win through Christ, but know that you’ll have to fight—so put your hair up, sis, and ready yourself for a violent battle to the death of who you once were and build the house you want to live in atop the battlefield.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/SIphotography
Alicia Purdy holds an M.A. in Journalism from Regent University. She is a worship leader at her local church and the author of “The Way of the Worshipper: Connecting with Spirit of God Through Restoring Intimacy, Purpose, and Understanding in Worship”. Alicia publishes www.TheWayoftheWorshipper.com, a devotional Bible study blog focused on the power of praise and worship that offers free printables, study materials, teachings, books, and other resources for individuals, groups, and churches to gain revelation, insight, and understanding from God’s Word about praise and worship.