Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Feminists have given us a picture of women as oppressed victims. Sadly, in some settings and cultures, women truly are oppressed. But we can’t overlook the fact that there are many women who oppress others—kind of like the woman we read about in Proverbs 7. “She has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men” (verse 26).
This woman in Proverbs used sexual seduction to bring a man down. But we can oppress men in more subtle ways by: discouragement, spiritual pride, or intimidation. Even our jokes—those politically correct “men jokes”—can put us in the position of an oppressor.
When we use words to cut, diminish, and wound, we’re tearing down the very people we were created to lift up.
Have you been guilty of casting down any of the men around you? Ask God to show you how to encourage and build them up by your spirit, your words, and your actions.
With Seeking Him, I’m Nancy Leigh DeMoss.
