Women shortchange themselves when and if they believe they need a man or children to be made whole.

I see them treating love as the complete sacrifice of self, putting everyone and everything else first, at gross personal expense, apparently thinking this is what love is.

I’ve seen them lose self definition, morph opinions, thoughts, desires to fit in with others.

Over time, they forget it’s possible and acceptable to have a unique thought or opinion. Some finding fear in the very idea.

I see women accommodating disrespect, putting up with unwanted language, actions, and even sex they don’t want, as if this is somehow what is within the calling of a woman.

I’ve known women ignore their sane inner-voice, and ignore it for years, or until the children are older, or until, until, and until…. and then it never happens.

And, I’ve seen it in every culture and sub-culture – in the most “advanced” and the most “disadvantaged” nations – where I’ve been privileged to visit and where I’ve been invited to preach and teach.

Identifying these patterns is the easy part.

I’ve also seen women make incredible changes.

I’ve seen women begin alone, within a secret place in the heart or soul, and find and develop a voice and use it in small ways, test the waters of change.

Then I’ve seen them go deeper, deeper, and deeper and find and express voice and stand ground and speak up and refuse to cooperate with the controlling demands of petty partners until everything changes and they live the full and complete lives we are all called to live.

Posted on August 7, 2020 at 7:19 am in Difficult Relationships   |  RSS feed |   Reply   |   Trackback URL