By Cindy Koch –

The Democratic convention is in session this week, ready to announce the first woman to run for president of the United States. And it looks like the day will come sooner than later when we must consider a female leading our country. While we all knew this would happen sooner or later, there is still much to talk about, much to hope in, and much more to mourn. I have only begun to grieve for our sons and daughters of independence.

Now, I’m very sure that a woman can perform the job of president. Each person, whether a man or woman of any religion or race, may possess excellent leadership abilities. Women can be politically talented and knowledgeable just as well as men. These people, regardless of gender, have been given gifts to serve their neighbors in a realm of international meetings and country officials. I know that a woman can do the job. I’m wondering why she would want to.

And here I think of Hillary Clinton. I’m wondering if she felt hurt and embarrassed by the scandals that surrounded her marriage. I’m wondering if she was loved by her husband just like Christ loved his Church. I’m wondering what drove her into this cursed seat of female independence. In our current culture, Mrs. Clinton personifies the dark description of the fallen world that God spoke to woman in the Garden of Eden.

“To the woman he said, ‘I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.’” Genesis 3:16

The relationship between man and woman, a beautiful gift of God from their creation, is no longer easy.  In our dying world, woman’s desire is to lead and not to help her husband. On our broken earth, a man will lord his rule and dominion over a woman. Today, both men and women no longer resemble what they were created to be. A female president is a terribly public and final confession from our country about the shameful independence of our women.

Of course, we should not be surprised. Our society won’t support much of what God created as good. Marriage, children, life, and the one, true God are all disregarded by our enlightened culture. So don’t be deceived: a woman in the White House is not a victory for the daughters of creation. It is the glorified disgrace of our curse in our relationship with men.

However, it is our children who lose the most. They will have Hillary Clinton etched in their little minds, whether she is president or not. Our girls will be taught to expect the worst—to be ready for a man who will not love and care for her. They will be programmed not to depend on one another, to figure it out on their own, and to be independent. Our daughters will be encouraged to be president and to shame what God created as good. Their pain in childbearing will continue to increase every generation, as the curse lives on.

And my heart hurts for Hillary, that her short experience in God’s creation drove her to such independence. Whatever the reason for running for president, this world prevailed over her enjoyment of a marriage relationship like Christ loved the Church. But Mrs. Clinton, this promise is for you, too.

You are God’s beloved woman, and not because anything that you’ve accomplished or done. You are His beloved woman because Jesus Christ was slaughtered for the curse of independence that you trust in. You are His beloved woman because Christ crushed the curse and rose from the dead, restoring you to what you were created to be. You are God’s beloved woman, even if you end up running for president.