Witchy Women
By Tina Wolfe
McDowell County
An unknown author once said, “We process the world through our words.” As a writer, I can certainly identify with that and journaling has been a therapeutic practice for me since I could hold a pen. But let’s tweak that quote just a bit.
“We process the world through what and how we think and believe about ourselves.”
I got this God Thought during a morning devotional on Philippians 4:8
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
In a world that seems upside down to many Christians, it’s a challenge to practice that which what Paul tasks us. Especially when we are dealing with combative or passive-aggressive people in our work lives. Being confident in who we are as children of God allows us to not only embrace Paul’s instructions but to live them out in personal and professional settings. This truth revealed itself recently in a client’s work meeting.
I had been helping a client navigate some passive-aggressive behavior from a group of women on the board of the organization she ran. These Witchy Women had been privately pressuring (bullying in the grown-up world) her to support an initiative that went against her Christian beliefs and was not directly related to the mission of the organization. In a team meeting, these women lodged negative accusations about her for what they perceived as not doing enough work (at least the work they wanted her to do) and in a passive-aggressive way reprimanded her in front of the others for not communicating properly. They never once mentioned the aggressive emails and conversations about the initiative at the meeting, but instead gaslighted her. They were relentless in their accusations and intent on making sure everyone thought about her as they did.
My client saw this coming and, in our work, together we focused on the importance of accountability and how to professionally and as a Christian, manage the impending attacks. She has a heart for service and the Lord, which is what brought her to this organization in the first place. Her sensitivity can get the best of her like it does us all. Even though she was hurt, offended, and mad, she was able to remain true to Paul’s words because she focused on who she was in Christ and refused to believe the false attacks. She had prepared both with practical notes and research and with prayer. She was able to replace their lies about her with truth and show her work to the others.
The efforts of the Witchy Women backfired as several attendees later expressed their concern and disapproval of their behavior to the big boss. My client’s ability to remain calm, and not be pulled into their web of destruction, shined the light on her positive behavior and earned her respect.
I admit, when she first came to me with this, I was mad too. I wanted to defend her and expose their hidden agendas and passive-aggressive behavior. (Imagine fist in the air, cape flowing behind me!) But Paul gives us a clear and simple way to bring our minds into the captivity of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you’re anything like me, we tend to want to lash out, defend our honor, and lead with emotion. When we do, we stop living for Jesus and place our wounded ego on the throne instead. The idea that we process our world through our words starts with our thoughts. We must first and foremost focus on who we are in Christ and why we were saved. In 2 Timothy 1:9 we are reminded who has saved us called us holy, “not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”(italic mine for emphasis)
We live in a world, especially our digital world, where words are used as weapons, badges of superiority, and to promote lies and belittle others. It can get under our skin and make us in turn have bad thoughts about the author or the speaker. Can you believe we have somewhere between 60K and 80K thoughts per day? This makes my head swim. I was having not not-so-nice thoughts about the Witchy Women, but Paul’s words convicted my heart. It brought me back to my God Thought;
“We process the world through what and how we think and believe about ourselves.”
As Christians, we are called to remember what God says about who we are–not what the world says. Ground yourself and your identity in these truths:
- We are made in His image (Gen. 1:27)
- We are redeemed (Luke 1:68)
- We are washed white as snow (Isaiah 1:18)
- He died so that we could live (John 3:16)
When we see ourselves as loved, cherished, and covered by our loving Father, the weapons-whether words from Witchy Women or Facebook friends–can not penetrate to the core of our being–our heart and soul.
I realize that when I allow the world and its ugliness to capture my attention, I think bad thoughts. Now in the case of these women, the ability to recognize the threat is the gift of discernment from God. The gift of discernment is so that we may take proper care. This is the truth revealed. At this point, recognizing they have ill intent is not “thinking bad thoughts”–at least not at this point. You are merely recognizing a threat. God gave us the ability to assess and reason along with our basic survival skills. Once we are aware of the threat, how we deal with it is informed by what we believe about ourselves. Do we feel, “I deserve this treatment?”
If we believe we deserve bad treatment, we begin to self-shame. The human physique can only handle so much self-abuse. We then turn our anger outward to the perceived cause of the pain–the Witchy Women. Allowing our thoughts to get to this level is when we let sin in.
But let’s present God’s view of us. He loves us, we are precious in his eyes, we were created in his image and adopted into his Kingdom family as sons and daughters! That’s something to rejoice over. We must replace the lie of unworthiness that the enemy tells us with the truth of who we are in Jesus Christ. That’s not to say we don’t accept responsibility for our own wrongs, we must. If we don’t we lose His protection. Proverbs 18:10 tells us that, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”
The Bible offers us the tools to handle situations like Witchy Women. The fact that these women intended harm is an informative statement—not a judgment statement. We also must understand that these women are sinners just like us and have allowed the enemy to rule their thoughts and actions in this situation. We are not called to assess the state of someone’s soul! That’s way above our pay grade.
The purpose of learning to be aware of and acknowledging intentional harm against us is to inform us, not to judge.
When we feel intimidated, threatened, or are being bullied in a professional or personal environment, remember this:
- The threat, insult, et. al. is to inform us of our next move according to God’s word.
- Hateful words, lies, and insults must be replaced with who we are in God’s Truth.
- Let who we are as God’s child inform how we respond (we are never required to react to aggression.)
- Let the knowledge that we are ALL created in His image inform how you interact with the aggressive or passive-aggressive person.
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Tina is a long-time resident of McDowell County with a passion for helping business owners operate from a Christian, servant-led perspective. She is a follower of Christ, a wife, and a mother. As a business owner, marketing professional, and journalist, she has studied Christian business models and worked with business coaches to learn how to effectively operate in a worldly business environment from a Godly perspective. She believes that when we dare to serve, we succeed in life, and in business. You can read more from Tina
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