Badness - in other words, sin - doesn't have to be that dramatic. it can be something on the sidelines: an unkind word, a whisper of gossip, a neglected request, an unrepentant attitude, an intentionally forgotten event.
Ouch.
It all boils down to a heart that's hardened against God - however temporary the condition, however isolated the tough spot.
To that extent, we've all been Bad Girls.
And to a woman, we long to be Good Girls.
We have a tendency to spend our energy comparing, falling short, asking ourselves "How do they do that". It's discouraging, even maddening. It also doesn't get us any closer to God.
So we are looking at women who got a lot wrong. Where to begin? With the first - Eve.
"Then the LORD God made a women from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. Genesis 2:22"Now you know she had to be a dish. She skipped childhood completely, so no chickenpox scars. No weird things from Aunt so and so, no inherited flat feet. God did everything perfectly. She was also sinless.
The man said,"This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman,; for she was taken out of man." Genesis 2:23
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:24
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. Genesis 3:1
He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" Genesis 3:1Why Eve and not Adam? Was she in the wrong place at the wrong time, or did the serpent go looking for her? And why, oh, why didn't she realize that if none of the other animals talked, this one shouldn't have either?
Satan isn't called the Father of Lies for nothing. He opened his chat with Eve using a deliberate lie - misquoting God, even putting words in the Lord's mouth.
By twisting the Lord's decree, Satan also tossed out one of the big stumbling blocks he still uses with great success today - making God look less than fair, kind or loving. When tragedy strikes - a precious child is killed in an accident or a young mother dies of cancer - Satan tempts our faith with the same sort of line: "Would a good God allow that?"
The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden.." Genesis 3:2First mistake - talking with the serpent
"...but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" Genesis 3:3Notice her second mistake - she added to the Word of God. The Lord never told her to "not touch it", just not to eat of the fruit.
"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it..."Genesis 3:4,5The serpent subtly shifted the conversation away from the Word of God and toward the desires of man, all the while invoking God's name.
"...your eyes will be opened..."Genesis 3:5Can't you hear Eve now? "Gee, I didn't know my eyes were closed. Am I missing something good?
"...and you will be like God..." Genesis 3:5 "...knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:5
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom she took some and ate it. Genesis 3:6Notice the serpent never said another word. He didn't have to. The fruit appealed to her fleshly appetite, her ego longed to be equal with God, to have that much understanding and creativity and power.
If she desired wisdom, all she needed to do was ask, as Solomon did, and God would no doubt have given her all she could handle.
What can we learn from Eve?
Don't get into a debate with Satan - get out!
We can't stop the Adversary from whispering in our ears, but we can refuse to listen, and we can definitely refuse to respond. No arguing, no debating!
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7Know God's Word so you won't be fooled.
When the serpents in our lives say, "Did God really say...?" let's be the first to declare, "No, God did not!" Because Eve did not remember the words of God's one commandment accurately, she left herself wide open for temptation to rush in. Studying, even memorizing, verses from the Bible gives us the strength to say no because we know.
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11Watch out for the Big Three
Women are physical, emotional, and spiritual in nature, and all three areas have their weak spots. In Eve's case, the serpent sank his fangs into all three. He appealed to her physical appetite for food, her emotional appreciation of beauty, and her spiritual desire to be like God. Satan uses the same tactics today. He's not creative in the least, just persistent. When we identify our weaknesses in all three area, and then arm ourselves with biblical defense methods, we can keep from experiencing our own daily (hourly!) reenactment of the Fall.
For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world. 1 John 2:16Excerpts from Liz Curtis Higgs book Bad Girls of the Bible
