Boys Rule, Girls Drool! ... Or Do They?

This week I was given a question that was really interesting, and I'm sure students have asked themselves the same question. The question is this, "...The Bible always says how God used men... it seems like God only ever uses men. Are men & women equal in God's eyes? Are men more important?" This is such a great question and it address the whole question of, 'who's better guys or girls?'

To start off, I want to address the comment about the feeling that God only uses men. It's a feeling that someone has, and I don't want to say it's not valid, but I do want to give you a few examples of God using women. First, just recently, we saw that God used Abigail to stop David from killing Nabal. Second, God used Mary to bring His only son Jesus into the world. Also, the first people to hear that Jesus had been resurrected were women. Not to mention a woman named Priscilla (with her husband Aquila) who greatly helped and supported Paul and were mentioned in many of his letters in the Bible. And then there's the two books in the Bible named after women, Esther and Ruth. Both have great story's of how God used them, and one of which God used to save the whole nation of Israel. And let's not forget Deborah, who was a female prophet (prophetess) and a wife who lead Israel (Judges 4). So you see, God does use women to accomplish His will.

I believe that in God's eyes, guys and girls are the same. Galatians 3:26-28 says it best, "You are all sons of God through Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [emphasis added]" In God's eyes, we're all the same, His creation, His love, & His children.

Another point is that while God is described as a (& the) Father, I believe He displays traits & characteristics that are typically present in both fathers & mothers. While he is like a father in that He disciplines, guides and provides, He is also like a mother in that he is nurturing, patient and caring. We are all His creation, we all bear His image, and we all have character traits that reveal who He is and what He is like.