Relating to the Opposite Sex, Part 2

Matthew 19:4 And [Jesus] answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female…'”

I Peter 3:7 Husbands…dwell with [your wives] with understanding…

Let me shock you: Men and women are different! And we’re supposed to be different. There are books and articles galore that spell out the differences. They make informative, helpful, and occasionally amusing reading.

While there are plenty of exceptions, the fact is that men tend to compartmentalize more and women tend to be better multitaskers. Or I could say that men have a success/competitive approach to life and relationships and women have a process-oriented, more relational approach. We could go on and on. Some observations of the differences that you will read or hear of are made without love and respect, but the fact is that God made us male and female, and He built differences in us from the start.

We can make too much out of these differences, but most of us don’t think enough about them.

The question for us as believers is: Are we committed to relating to the opposite sex, with their ways of thinking and acting that we might not fully understand, in a way that glorifies the Lord and expresses His love and life through us?

God has a Kingdom way for us to relate to members of the opposite sex (see yesterday’s reading). One of the ways we can get there is to humble ourselves in the area of understanding the other gender. Peter’s exhortation to husbands to live with their wives in understanding (I Peter 3:7) has an application far beyond marriage. We are to live in understanding with the other sex in every situation. We learn about the other sex not ultimately to reduce confusion, nor to gain control through understanding, but to serve the Lord by relating in the grace and wisdom that comes through true understanding.

Prayer: Father, thank you that you made us male and female in Your wisdom. Help me to understand the other sex in greater measure, not for myself, but that I may relate to them all in Kingdom love and sincere appreciation for the differences You created.