Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Men and Women

What does it mean to be a man? Is the measure of a man his body’s muscular strength or how much money he makes, or his success in the world? Shall we compare one man to others to measure his worth? Or perhaps what matters most is when a man lives up to the expectations of the One who created him.
Men and women are made in the likeness of God, dependent upon Him and each other, made to serve their Lord and each other willingly and without guile, in honesty, love and faithfulness. Yet male and female are enough different from each other to spark compelling flames of attraction and consuming fires of conflict.
Men are not only physically different from the fairer sex, but their emotions are different. Their minds think differently. Physically stronger, as a general rule, he is more sensitive to light, less sensitive to sound, more likely to be left-handed or nearsighted, is more aggressive, less intuitive and more logical. His language skills and visual perceptions are different.
All of this was part of God’s plan when He made male and female. Man was created and designed first and then shown that he didn’t have what it took to go it all alone.
Women have an unnaturally strong desire to control men, and men end up ruling over women in an unnatural domination. So this is the battle between men and women, God’s punishment because of sin.
Each tried to manipulate and dominate the other for selfish reasons. But a godly woman is not a passive slave, following a man from a distance as the man initiates all ideas and actions. Women make a positive and significant different in the New Testament. Women make a valuable contribution to both social and spiritual life.

A wife is still considered the property of her husband. I don’t care how enlightened you profess to be. Graciously submitting to a man has been a hard thing for women to do. It has to come out of love and respect. A man must not seek to dominate his subservient wife but to humbly protect, provide for and love her as she returns that love in service. They both give of themselves in self-sacrifice and put the other’s needs above their own.
Women are not inferior to men. Neither are they superior. Men and women are of equal value and worth to God our Creator. We are to have a submissive spirit and a servant’s heart. A wife must put herself under the authority of her own husband.
We are taught from God’s word, as equality between the sexes that is expressed in the glorious way they complete each other, not compete with each other. Distinctive male and female roles compliment each other.

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