1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. 6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-7)
There is such a debate in the christian community on the subject of women and their role in the church. It is amusing to me that alot of this debate comes from women themselves. I am a pastoring partner with my husband; meaning I take an active role in ministry; including preaching and leadership. I do this because I was called by God to ministry personally when I was 12.
My experience lately has been that some of the very women who take great offense at the idea of women in leadership and ministry roles in the church have themselves fallen prey to these warnings in scripture.
On the surface they appear to be submissive and humble but once you get to know them they are 'loaded down with sin and swayed by all kinds of evil desires". Wow! Sometimes you do not know what you are getting into when you begin a relationship. The word I am thinking of here is manipulation. I have gotten to the place in my life where I refuse to be manipulated by people who want to use me to get their way! I have been slandered by brutal women so often that I have to pray that God will help me continue to reach out to those I don't know, even when I know they have the potential to hurt me. I know this is part of being a pastor's wife but it sure opens your eyes to our human, fallen nature!
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"always learning but never coming to knowledge of the truth" It seems some Christian women today are jumping on every bandwagon they can. I can't keep up with whether we are staying home at the hearth this month baking bread or going out to win the world! lol. Are you unstable? Double minded? Unforgiving of others? Maybe you are in a relationship that you know is unhealthy but you have started to depend on that person to provide you with...drama?
Women arise! God wants us to be stable and secure in Him. How do these things worm their way into our homes? We invite them in through the television, internet, telephone, etc. I am strong in Christ... simply because when I am weak He is strong! We are living in the last days and it is more important than ever that we grow up and mature in Christ, becoming the women of God that we hear about in scruptures that will rise up and prophecy in the last days, not the weak-willed women of this passage!
My experience lately has been that some of the very women who take great offense at the idea of women in leadership and ministry roles in the church have themselves fallen prey to these warnings in scripture.
On the surface they appear to be submissive and humble but once you get to know them they are 'loaded down with sin and swayed by all kinds of evil desires". Wow! Sometimes you do not know what you are getting into when you begin a relationship. The word I am thinking of here is manipulation. I have gotten to the place in my life where I refuse to be manipulated by people who want to use me to get their way! I have been slandered by brutal women so often that I have to pray that God will help me continue to reach out to those I don't know, even when I know they have the potential to hurt me. I know this is part of being a pastor's wife but it sure opens your eyes to our human, fallen nature!
.
"always learning but never coming to knowledge of the truth" It seems some Christian women today are jumping on every bandwagon they can. I can't keep up with whether we are staying home at the hearth this month baking bread or going out to win the world! lol. Are you unstable? Double minded? Unforgiving of others? Maybe you are in a relationship that you know is unhealthy but you have started to depend on that person to provide you with...drama?
Women arise! God wants us to be stable and secure in Him. How do these things worm their way into our homes? We invite them in through the television, internet, telephone, etc. I am strong in Christ... simply because when I am weak He is strong! We are living in the last days and it is more important than ever that we grow up and mature in Christ, becoming the women of God that we hear about in scruptures that will rise up and prophecy in the last days, not the weak-willed women of this passage!
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John 10:3 – 5 “The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”