As a woman, mother of three daughters, and grandmother of 5 granddaughters, I feel compelled to respond to all the attention in the media recently about the sexual abuse, harassment, and general disrespect toward women in our culture.

This is not a new issue, but it certainly has come to the forefront. Allegations that are years old are just coming to light.

As a Christian, what should my response be?

I have found freedom to be what God has called me to be, respect for the unique qualities inherent in being a female human being, and courage to stand up to those who would disrespect my womanhood all in my faith as a Christian.

Jesus elevated the status of the women he came in contact with through his time of ministry. He dispersed a crowd ready to stone a woman “caught in adultery” (where was the man she was caught with?) by asking her accusers, “he who is without sin, cast the first stone”.

Jesus encouraged women to learn from his teachings alongside the men who also followed him at a time when women were not part of formal spiritual or intellectual training. Mary of Bethany, Martha, and Mary Magdalene were some of those women who followed Jesus.

Jesus engaged in conversation with a woman who was an outcast (a Samaritan) and offered her the “water of life”. He used a poor widow as an example of true sacrificial giving, in contrast with the wealthy Pharisee of the religious establishment.

My Christian faith has given me a strong sense of my worth as a person. I am free of the stigma any cultural bias may project on me based on my ethnicity, community, education, economic status, or any other designation.

I am a child of God, the Creator of the Universe.

Have men dominated women under the supposed authority of religion?

Absolutely, much to their shame.

Have men hidden behind their “religion” to perpetrate acts of sexual abuse? Yes.

Yet these sins against women and abuse of authority are not rooted in true Christianity. The word “Christian” means “Christ like”.

Jesus Christ taught “the greatest love is to sacrifice your life”, and “do unto others as you would have them do to you”.

Sexual abuse, harassment, and disrespect of women should have NO place in our culture, and most emphatically for those who are Christians.

In I Timothy 5:1-2 Paul is instructing his young disciple, Timothy, in the Christ like way to treat others.

1 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

I am so very thankful for a father, two brothers, a husband, a son, and three sons-in-law who have all treated me with love and respect.

(ok, lots of teasing from several of these males, but ALWAYS love)

I know this is not the case for many women. We as Christians must take a stand for respectful behavior that values the unique qualities of being female. We must speak out against abuse in all its forms.

We must teach our grandchildren what Paul taught Timothy.

We must show love and compassion for those who have been victims of abuse so that they can receive healing and restoration.

Christian women are all our Father’s daughters.