Women are Crazy; Men are Jerks.

I was at a Christian camp when I was informed that there was only one thing to keep in mind in regards to the opposite sex. Men: all women are crazy. Women: all men are jerks. That is what the speaker told us, anyway. Apparently this knowledge was supposed to save us from a lot of heartbreak or something.

I'm not sure exactly when I took up arms in the war of Man vs. Woman that has been raging ever since Adam blamed his fall on Eve. But clearly I must have, because I catch myself saying things such as "Men are dumb; we should throw rocks at them", "Men are scumbags", "Men are [insert negative gender stereotypical blanket statement here]". You get the idea. And when I see the amount of girls' Facebook statuses that are anti-men, I know that I am not alone. Since when have men become the enemy?

Ironically, my musings on this subject were actually instigated by my attack on such a perceived enemy just last night, when I saw a guy's facebook status that read as follows: "has done laundry, cleaned the house and made my meals today. I feel like a woman. As long I dont get moody, indecisive, complain about everything and have sex with some dude that doesnt respect me because I'm scared of being alone I should be alright". After I read it, I was absolutely furious, and retorted to the comment sharply and sarcastically--perhaps with more anger and less thought than I should have.

I went to bed shortly thereafter, but I was too upset to sleep. His comment had been so sexist, so degrading towards women. And people had liked the comment, some of them being girls. Do we really respect ourselves so little?, I wondered. We are daughters of God, and we deserve better.

But the more I thought about it, the more the Spirit began to convict me. Because men are God's creation just as much as women are. They are His sons every bit as much as women are His daughters. And all my past (and present) mindless rantings against men were just as bad as what this particular guy had said against women. Sexism runs both ways. Yes, the daughters of God deserve better. So do His sons.

Which made me incredibly sad. Isn't it just like Satan, to take a relationship that God created to hold such beauty and goodness--men and women, partnering together, encouraging each other, bringing strength to the other's weakness--and instead, pitting men and women against each other, causing us to see each other as enemies? How God must weep when He sees how men and women war against each other, when He first created woman as the answer to man's lonliness (Gen. 2:18)! Warring against each other, when we should be uniting in war against our true Enemy, the one who deceived us from the very beginning.

So men, I am sorry. I am sorry for my cynicsm towards you. I am sorry for bashing you when I should be building you up. I am sorry for expecting the worst of you when I should be praying for the best. I am sorry for describing you with blanket statements when I should be getting to know you as individuals. I am sorry for hating you for your sexism without any regard for my own.

My dear brothers, I don't want to fight you any more. I will continue fighting the lies that have made us enemies for as long as I live, but by the grace of God, I will not fight you. But I will fight with you. Together, as God intended. We are both imperfect human beings, but we are also both made new in the blood of Jesus. And in His kingdom, there is no male or female--there is only Christ (Gal. 3:26-29).