Sisterhood

It’s been stirring in my soul. 

A message… always churning…

Unsettling…

Disheartening…

Longing for something better...

It’s the stuff that disquiets the spirit and steals rest… and so, I will speak, praying to God that it brings a greater depth of love and unity, acknowledging that I too, I know the struggle.  Know it well, for it is one I battle daily.

I see inside the walls of the Western Church, women who are grasping for meaning… for value.  And in the struggle for that which brings inner peace, we’ve stepped on and over our sisters…we've caused wounds... we’ve brought pain.

Does this message apply to the men?  It does.  But for this moment, let’s let it be us.  Just us.  The women…

We sit next to each other in the pews.  Worship with passion within reach of one another, yet inside is a struggle that divides and destroys.  It is the age-old lie that Satan has used from day one.  The very lie he used to convince Eve to taste the fruit.

You…are not…enough… 

You don't measure up.  

You're missing out on something better.

Once our attention is in his grasp, the barrage of convincing ‘truths’ overwhelms our minds, binding us.  Consuming us.  Keeping us from the ability to give and receive grace and soon we chime in, adding our own beliefs to the enemy's collection of divisive and destructive lies.

She doesn’t like me.

They’re talking about me.

They think they're better than me because I'm a single mom…an ex-addict…a current addict…an adulteress...a SAHM…a career mom…(you fill in the blank).

I wish I was as skinny as her.

I could do that better than her.

She’s so stuck up.

She's so perfect… I'll never measure up.

Who does she think she is?

And on and on and on and on it goes. 

“But I love Jesus,” we say.  And love Him, we do.  Yet as our love for Jesus remains steadfast, our actions and our thoughts are busy elsewhere leaving me convinced that Satan doesn’t need our hearts to do his bidding – he just needs our attention.

Eyes off Jesus, no longer overwhelmed by His Amazing Grace, we are best able to focus on all that Satan wants us to believe about others…and ourselves… and there, in the clutches of his message for us, we find ourselves bound in a web of turmoil, loneliness and pain.

Want to hear the real truth?

None of us – not one is exempt.  We all have our struggles… our doubts... our fears.  We all hear the lies.   Whether your sister across the aisle is your friend or not, the saying holds true - we likes to be liked… or at least tolerated.

Somehow, we have created a belief that unity is only attainable when all parties agree with one another on all issues.  

Not so. 

Unity is not uniformity. 

Are we all different?  Yes – in so many ways.  In our looks, our talents, our relationships, our skin color, our size, our tax bracket… but we have one thing in common – we are covered by the righteousness of Jesus – and that, my sisters, is why Satan is seeking to gain your attention.

He hates what he sees when he looks at you.  He hates when he sees us loving on one another…encouraging one another…growing together – and so his main objective is to bring pain, uncertainty and division.

Ask my kids and they’ll tell you the many times I’ve told them that “there are billions of people in this world – many who are ready and willing to hurt your feelings and cut you down… but when you walk in these doors, you are free to be you. 

Inside the walls of our family I will not allow you to slander, mock and hurt one another. 

In here, you’re accepted… you’re safe. 

In here, we build each other up and encourage when another is down. 

In here, you’re always loved…without question…without reservation.

In here…in here, we do grace.”

And to you, my sisters in Christ, I say the same.  Can we make this our mantra?  Can we commit to doing this for one another?  Can we agree that this world is broken and hurting and sometimes the weight of it all wearies the soul and weakens the spirit?  Can we agree that inside the doors of the Kingdom, we need a respite?  A safe retreat?

A place where we can see beyond what meets the eye and love the soul within?

There are billions of people in this world, sisters.  Many who are ready and willing to hurt your feelings and cut you down… but when you walk in these doors of the Kingdom, you are free to be you. 

Inside the walls of our family, must we slander, mock and hurt one another?

Can we instead say… 'in here, you’re accepted… you’re safe?'

In here, we build each other up and will encourage you when you’re down. 

In here, you’re always loved…without question…without reservation.

Because in here, we do grace.

“Let me give you a new command: Love one another.

In the same way I loved you, you love one another.

This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

-John 13