A Most Bitter and Poisonous Fruit
Written by Joseph Spurgeon
In my pastoral experience, many church and family conflicts are not caused by men. They are caused by active female rebellion baptized in feminist assumptions.
Gossip. Division. Manipulation. Resistance to legitimate authority. Weaponizing children. Recruiting an audience instead of seeking reconciliation.
Feminism has discipled generations of women to equate defiance with courage and submission with oppression.
It is a most bitter and poisonous fruit.
Women are taught to interpret resistance to authority as authenticity—and restraint as the death of self.
So when her sin is confronted:
• Repentance feels like losing
• Submission feels like betrayal of self
• Stubbornness feels like courage
• Public accusation feels like righteousness
And eventually, rebellion can feel so virtuous that she believes disobedience itself is proof that she is standing for truth.
Thank God for godly women who recognize this temptation and wage war against it rather than baptizing it as “finding their voice.”
And thank God for godly husbands and fathers who keep loving, leading, correcting, forgiving, and standing firm when our culture tells them that merely exercising faithful authority is abuse.
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4 thoughts on “A Most Bitter and Poisonous Fruit”
The majority of the time, it seems, this ungodly behaviour is left unchecked. I’m yet to hear a single sermon in my 45 years that condemns women’s behaviour and calls her to Godliness. But I’ve heard plenty geared towards the husband about not being a brute and “just love his wife more.”
So true. Women are attacked largely because they are more sympathetic targets than men. It’s easier to see her as a victim, the ascribe good motives to her, and to want to comfort her.
My marriage was pretty much sabotaged by a women’s Bible study. When I lovingly discussed her spending and my dislike for her then new habit of coming to bed at 4 am and staying in bed past noon with then 7 year olds, her study admonished her that “God doesn’t want you to be a doormat.” I’ve since caught the children watching adult content and talking to creeps online while she’s in bed, our relations are less than once a year. Our now former pastor scolded me by name from the pulpit to lead and love as Christ loved the church after hearing my wife’s story through his wife without ever talking to me.
And all this through filter of being strong and spiritual. I don’t ask for help dealing with her, but plenty of people give her advice on “dealing” with me without knowing the whole story.
Great article, God bless.
This article hits home. I’ve seen it firsthand, many times over. Women often think they are being the spiritual ones when in fact, they are being an agent for evil. A puppet. This is one reason why I believe it is important for women to stay within the realm God created for them. I also think it is important for women to understand what gossip actually is.
Oftentimes gossip is disguised under the name of sharing, seeking counsel, keeping up with the news, and/or venting. What we are actually doing is gossiping at best and often with a side of slander as well. It is not loving. When we do this we are looking for our will to be done, not God’s perfect redemptive will.
The one element of this article that I take issue with is that women aren’t alone in causing church and family destruction . Sadly I’ve seen where men are often the issue as well. Usually though it is around some kind of sexual sin. I’ve been a part of congregations that split because of molestations, preacher infidelity, and on going affairs. Also many men do this within their families whether or not it affects the whole congregation. Pornography is also pretty prevalent amongst men (women too but men especially).
I have both a son and daughter so for years I have warned them of what I’ve found to be the biggest stumbling blocks for men and women.
But for the purposes of this website I am all for the reminder to women alone to watch our tongues and attitudes.
James 3:6
The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
It is no mistake that instructions for wives are often given before the husband’s various times throughout the New Testament. When a wife submits to her husband in honour and respect it seems as though God opens the floodgates of her husband’s heart and the adoration, tenderness, and love her husband gives her refreshingly drenches her heart, mind, and soul. Try it and see what happens. It might be challenging but it really is actually quite simple.