The Objectification of Women as a Spiritual Assault by Tina Malaty

Becoming a Woman of God in an Environment Where Women Are Objectified by the Devil

To become a woman of God in today’s world is not a passive inheritance—it is an act of spiritual resistance.

We are formed in a culture that measures women by visibility, desirability, compliance, and consumption. Worth is often assigned by youth, sexuality, productivity, or how easily one can be used. This environment is not neutral. Scripture tells us that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). When women are consistently reduced to objects rather than recognized as image-bearers, the distortion is not accidental—it is spiritual.

Objectification as a Spiritual Strategy

From a biblical perspective, objectification is not merely a social ill; it is a theological one. To objectify a woman is to deny her full humanity, and by extension, to distort the image of God within her (Genesis 1:27). The enemy has always targeted women at the level of identity—beginning in Eden, where deception was aimed not at Eve’s body, but at her understanding of God’s character and her own authority (Genesis 3:1–6).

Modern objectification functions similarly. It persuades women to internalize external valuations, encouraging self-surveillance and fragmentation of the self. Psychological research supports this: studies on objectification theory demonstrate that chronic exposure leads to anxiety, shame, disordered eating, and diminished cognitive performance (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Scripture anticipated this long before modern psychology named it: “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).

The devil’s strategy is subtle but effective—convince women they are bodies first and souls second.

The Cost of Living Disconnected from God-Given Identity

When a woman is taught to see herself primarily through the gaze of others, she begins to negotiate her value rather than stand in it. This produces spiritual exhaustion. Many women are not rebelling against God—they are simply trying to survive systems that reward self-erasure.

Jesus directly confronted this distortion. He did not speak over women or about women; He spoke to them. He restored dignity to the woman at the well (John 4), protected the woman caught in adultery from public humiliation (John 8), and affirmed Mary of Bethany for choosing contemplation over performance (Luke 10:38–42). Christ’s ministry re-centered women as moral agents, theologians, and witnesses.

To follow Christ, then, is to reject narratives that demand constant self-modification for acceptance.

Becoming a Woman of God Is a Reclamation, Not an Addition

Becoming a woman of God does not require becoming quieter, smaller, or more palatable. It requires remembering who you were before the world taught you to forget.

Scripture describes women of God not as ornamental, but as formidable: Deborah judged a nation (Judges 4), Esther confronted political genocide (Esther 4), Ruth embodied covenant loyalty (Ruth 1), and Mary consented to divine disruption with intellectual clarity and courage (Luke 1:38).

A woman of God is one who orders her life around truth rather than approval.

This involves discipline of the mind (“be transformed by the renewing of your mind” – Romans 12:2), boundaries of the body (“your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” – 1 Corinthians 6:19), and discernment of voice (“My sheep hear My voice” – John 10:27). These are not aesthetic virtues—they are acts of spiritual warfare.

Living Faithfully in a Culture That Profits from Women’s Insecurity

The world profits when women are insecure, divided, and distracted from their spiritual authority. The gospel, by contrast, calls women into clarity, stability, and inheritance.

This does not mean disengaging from culture, but engaging it wisely. Paul exhorted believers to “test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). For women, this means learning to evaluate messages that equate worth with desirability, submission with silence, and empowerment with exploitation.

A woman of God learns to ask different questions:

• Does this cultivate truth or self-obsession?
• Does this draw me toward God or fragment my attention?
• Does this honor my body as sacred, or treat it as currency?

A Personal Reckoning

Many women come to this understanding through pain—through betrayal, invisibility, or being valued only for what they could provide. But Scripture assures us that God does not waste suffering. “He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:3) is not poetic language—it is a promise of reintegration.

Becoming a woman of God often begins when a woman refuses to be consumed by narratives that never loved her. It is the moment she stops auditioning and starts abiding (John 15:4).

Conclusion: Standing as Witness

To live as a woman of God in an objectifying world is to stand as quiet contradiction. It is to testify—not loudly, but faithfully—that women are not commodities, temptations, or tools. They are co-heirs of grace (1 Peter 3:7), created with intention, intellect, and authority.

This path is not easy, but it is holy. And in a world desperate for truth, a woman who knows who she is in God becomes a living rebuke to the enemy—and a refuge for others still finding their way.