Men and Women are Just Different
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) | Categories: Family, Christian Family, Genesis, Ephesians
Don’t give me that “Well, duhhh!” look- I’m not talking about physical anatomies here. Instead, I have reference to how they were created, and therefore, how they operate.
The man, Adam, was created from the dust of the ground, Genesis 2:7. He was and is, therefore, elemental. He’s basic, fundamental, and rudimentary in a lot of ways. Men are generally uncomplicated.
The woman, Eve, was not created from such simple sources. She was fashioned (wow, what an appropriate word) instead from the rib of the man, Genesis 2:21-22. She was and is, therefore, much more complex. As men are generally uncomplicated, women are, again generally, much more complicated. Though God was the ultimate Source of both of their origins, men and women were created from very different materials. As a result of both the materials used to create them, and certainly the purposes God had for each of them, men and women are very different in form and function.
The man was created first, and such is apparently important, as evidenced in 1Timothy 2:11-13 and 1Corinthians 11:7-9. But lest we males begin to get all “high and mighty” about our position as dictated by creative order, let’s also remember that it was the man who was deemed incomplete “alone” (before Eve was created), Genesis 2:18! Therefore, Eve/woman was formed as the “crown jewel” of all of God’s creation. Only after her creation did God look upon all He had made and declare that it was “very good” Genesis 1:31.
All of that was to get to this: these differences in the creation of men and women may help to explain something about each one’s thought processes. Men, being the relatively uncomplicated beings we are, think pretty simply and pragmatically. Perhaps this is an oversimplification, but bear with me anyway, please. And women, generally being the more complex creatures of the species, think in more complicated ways. Even how we express ourselves bears these things out. Men typically say, “I think that…” But women are more prone to say, “I feel that…” Men’s thoughts are more basic and fundamental because they usually come stripped of the complications of emotion. Whereas women’s thoughts are complicated with emotions- in fact, women’s thoughts often stem from their emotions. Such is not meant as a slight to either sex- it’s just the way God made us.
It’s a good thing that God made men and women the way He did too! A man’s thoughts and decisions often need the tempering influence of the emotions of a woman lest they become tyrannical and dictatorial. And a woman’s emotions often need tempering with the pragmatism of a man lest they become so complicated with feelings that clarity is lost, and decisions become overly difficult. Before you accuse me of sexism, hear me out.
Ephesians 5:22-31,33 outlines the primary duties of husbands to their wives, and wives to their husbands. Have you ever wondered why husbands are told to “love your wives” and wives are told to “be subject to your husbands”? Why aren’t the wives told to “love their husbands”? Could it be so because, being women, they’re already good at the emotional aspects of marriage? On the other hand, “subjection” is a mental thing. It is deciding to willingly submit yourself to another’s decisions. Conversely, the husbands in Ephesians 5 are told to “love their wives.” Why aren’t they told be pragmatic in their headship of the family? Again, could it be because they are already that way, but need to temper their decisions with love? Think carefully about it, won’t you?
Now here’s the real beauty of all of this: God created men and women to be more together than either of them could ever be apart. Such is the true splendor of becoming “one flesh” in marriage, Genesis 2:22-24. Marriage “done right” means not only each partner realizing and fulfilling their proper roles within the relationship, but also recognizing the magnificence of God’s purpose for us in marriage- that each “half” makes the other “whole.” Marriage done right is a foretaste of heaven on earth. And, marriage done wrong is a foretaste of hell on earth. God didn’t make us the way He did, and marriage for us the way He did, to make us miserable, but happy. Such is achieved by recognizing the distinctions in how men and women were made, and how those differences are designed to make us “whole” together. By the way, my lovely bride and I have making each other “whole” for 26 years as of July 5th, and I am constantly thankful for her.
Man and woman both are different in many aspects. They look different and they behave different, but they are made for each other.
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