A Wise Word From An Incredible Woman

The church has the responsibility to protect its women and treat them with respect.   #daybydaylw   Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org!   ~~~   After Amnon’s act of violation, the text tells us that he began to hate Tamar. Listen to the repetition in verse 15—“Then Amnon hated her with a very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her.” How much did he hate her? He sought to blame her for the whole affair. He called in a servant and demanded that he kick Tamar out and lock the door so that she could not enter again. He was trying to arrange the scenario so that it looked like she was the guilty one of the reprehensible conduct, where in reality she had only acted in innocence and love. He calls upon his servant and literally says, “Put this out of my presence.” He has full blown objectified Tamar. She is no longer a woman, no longer a human. Just a piece of flesh for his own personal use to be disposed of. Tamar knew this was what he was attempting to do, and she pleads with him, “If you go through with this, this would be a greater pain against me than what you just did. You cannot do this!” Not a man, one, in this passage so far, has had one bit of care. We will see later that David is angered, but he does nothing. The man who was once skillful and a warrior, is turning into the shadow of the man he once was. He sends his daughter into the wolf's den, and does nothing to slay the wolf and protect the sheep. “There is so much, unseen or brushed under the rug when it comes to mistreating women. The world wants to say that they handle it, but then they abuse and objectify women in the worst of ways. There are so many hurting women who do not know where to turn for truth and healing because they have been overlooked, or sin against them has refused to be handled. Just another reason why men, especially men of the church, should understand the vulnerability of women and the role God has called them to. They need protectors. Defenders, from this type of nonsense.” (Kristi Johnson)