Spiritual Archives - Genuinely Gia

Sometimes we feel like we are stuck in a paralyzed place, but Jesus is calling us to rise.

Let’s go to Mark chapter 2, to the story when Jesus heals the paralytic man. I’ll summarize it for you: Jesus was preaching in a house that was so packed there was absolutely no room for someone to get inside. Knowing that Jesus would preach and perform miracles, a group of 3 guys brought their paralyzed friend to see Him. They were hoping to get inside, and when they saw how packed the house was they knew they were going to have to their friend near Jesus someway; somehow.

So what do they do? They climb the house, cut a hole in the roof, and lower the paralyzed man down inside the house right in front of Jesus. Now, you may be thinking WOW what amazing friends- and a lot of people will focus on them. They will focus on the friends that had great faith, who went through great lengths to get the paralyzed man near Jesus in hopes of a miracle. I don’t want to focus on that. I want to focus on what Jesus says to the paralyzed man.

So fast forward, and the paralytic has just been lowered in front of Jesus while He was preaching and Scripture tells us, “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5)

When everyone heard Jesus say this, they thought to themselves something along the lines of, “What the heck?!” “He doesn’t need his sins forgiven; he needs a miracle!” “Who are YOU to forgive sins?”

When Jesus sensed their thoughts, He said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’?” (Mark 2:8-9)

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like I’m stuck in a paralyzed place.

You may feel like you’re stuck in a place where you can’t move on, you can’t go forward. We can feel paralyzed by depression, addiction, something that happened to us, our complacencies, our selfishness- but Jesus goes on to say to the paralyzed man, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” and immediately the paralyzed man rose, picked up his mat, and went away.

The amazing thing about this is that Jesus isn’t just saying, “I have forgiven your sins,” but BY FORGIVING YOUR SINS, He has taken your depression, your addiction, your selfishness, your pain, your bad habit… He took it, and He nailed it to the cross, and He is calling you to rise out of that paralyzed place. Rise out of the place where the enemy is trying to hold you down.

Rise and walk in His forgiveness, walk in His love, and walk with courage knowing He has called you for a great purpose.

“Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, ⁷“Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” ⁸Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? ⁹Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? ¹⁰But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”— ¹¹he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” ¹²He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.” Mark 2: 4-12

Uncovering the real “War on Women” and the sinister effects the degradation of human dignity has on society.

Since the beginning of creation, the devil has waged war on women. This war began in the Garden of Eden where the serpent preyed on Eve’s vulnerability and manipulated her into eating the forbidden fruit, but the battle didn’t end with original sin. In every part of society, we see an attack on true femininity and the value of human dignity rapidly decreasing. How have we come to a place where human life is discarded at the sake of convenience and “feminity” is a fluid term that is independent from chromosomal sex determination? The answer lies much deeper than feminism, liberalism, or secularism.

What’s so special about a woman?

While men and women are created equal, they are not the same. Both man and woman in their respective beings have inalienable dignity, which comes to them immediately from God. Human dignity comes from being created in the image and likeness of God; being capable of self-knowledge, self-possession, freely giving of oneself and entering into communion with other persons. Furthermore, being created in the image and likeness of God speaks to the human ability to create, design, and bring forth new life. So, what’s so special about a woman?

When it comes to having children, both man and woman participate in a continuation of God’s creation. The Bible says in Genesis 1:28, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,” According to Scripture, the ability to procreate is God’s blessing to us! What differentiates the woman from the man is that she is the vessel of the evidence of God’s creative power, being that a woman carries a child in her womb.

Who is the real enemy here?

Ah, feminism. We love you; we hate you. Modern feminism has taken what was once a fight for women to be seen as of equal value to men and turned it into the glorification of stripping everything that makes a woman female in a gross attempt to masculinize her. That’s not to mention creating the disgusting narrative that heterosexual men are the epitome of all evil in the world. The gospel of feminism is you don’t need a man for anything at all, yet at the same time preaches that men are at your disposal as often as you’d like, to fulfill your selfish desires. Is that what femininity is? But, I digress. Is feminism to blame for the rise and fall of everything good and decent? Well… yes and no. While modern feminism and the sexual revolution have played a significant role in the decline of human dignity, they are merely the weapons of this war. Then, who’s the real enemy here?

The real War on Women is not about access to birth control and fighting for “reproductive rights.” Instead, it is an attack on the very thing that makes a woman female, her design to carry a child. A war waged against her by the devil himself.

Why the Devil Hates Women

Let’s make no mistake. The devil is not a made-up character in a scary story, who falls into the same lineup as the Boogie Man. Jesus said the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Satan cannot create, and out of his envy of humanity being made in the image of God, seeks to destroy it.

Although he hates humanity in its whole, he especially hates women. Why? Because woman bears the only creation made in the image and likeness of God in her womb. It is through the woman carrying a child that new life springs forth, every time continuing the creation story and thus, continuing in God’s love.

Furthermore, it was through a woman that the eternal salvation of humanity came into this world. As it was promised by God to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15).

The Real War on Women

The Bible says in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age.” If we believe the Bible to be truth, then it is true to say that the War on Women is first a spiritual war, before a cultural one. What’s the best way to fight a war? Know who your real enemies are. The culture has tried to pin the “big enemy” as the patriarchy, conservatism, and yes, even Christianity. The mainstream narrative has even gone so far as to turn women against each other by selling the lie that women who don’t fit the progressive feminist mold are anti-woman misogynists.

If we are going to fight the Real War on Women, we have to be prepared to fight this battle spiritually. So, how can we fight a spiritual battle? How do we resist the devil?

Become Battle Ready.

Once you know who your enemy is, you can strategize how to fight them. Thankfully, God has given us clear instructions for fighting spiritual battles. “Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all [the] flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:13-17

When we stand our ground, girded in truth, righteousness, readiness, and faith, we push back against the devil and all his warfare. Part of this spiritual armor is living God-given femininity to our best ability. Which means honoring our womanhood and embracing our feminine attributes- embracing all of that which makes us woman.

It is by living Biblical and traditional family values, and in doing so, upholding true feminity and masculinity that we will restore human dignity to its rightful place. That is the way to fight the War on Women, the way to change the culture for the better, and the way to defeat the devil and bring God honor.