In several earlier contributions to this column, we covered the various ways in which men and women are different. We pointed out that it is very important to know these differences in order to understand as well as accommodate each other in a marriage. Indeed, there can be serious problems between a husband and a wife when there is no clear understanding and apprIn this contribution, we wish to focus on the story of creation as outlined in the Holy Bible. In doing so we wish to focus on what may be called the general traits or inclinations of men vis–vis those of women. God created us equal, but with very different natural inclinations. Perhaps the best way of tackling this is to ask the question, what did God say to Adam and Eve after creating them? Better still, what did Adam and Eve hear first when they had been created?
Adam must have heard God instructing him to look after the birds and the plants and the Garden of Eden. In other words, God instructed Adam to work. This four-letter word, work, is very important to a man. By nature, a man desires to work because that is the instruction from His Maker. This explains why most men become mentally disturbed when they are sacked from their jobs. It also explains why most men will bring work home and keep working when they should be resting.
Some men, who may not be employed, will busy themselves repairing the home or the furniture, or they will engage in self-employment. A man who is totally unable to work feels rotten and dejected. A woman who does not understand this may find it difficult to relate with her husband after he has lost his job. She may also not understand why her employed husband leaves home very early to go to work, and comes home rather late even when he is not paid over-time.
What then did Eve hear when she first encountered communication? She heard this handsome man called Adam saying words to the effect that this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman. In other words, Eve also hears a four-letter word, love. Women are highly inclined to love; it is natural for them to do so. A woman will tend to relate to everyone she comes across on the basis of love.
I guess that is why they have the responsibility for giving birth to children. They have the ability to love them, whereas fathers have to learn to love both their wives and their children. This also explains why a woman carries all her domestic baggage to work instead of leaving it at home. Men will rarely talk about their home situation while at work. Women cannot stop talking about their home situation at work, at church, everywhere they are. Women have no problems expressing their love for their husbands. Men struggle to remember their wives birthdays.
They sometimes have to buy expensive flowers and other gifts in order to express their love. Women express their love effortlessly. They are natural lovers. In Ephesians 5, God instructs us, Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. There is nowhere in the Bible where wives are instructed to love their husbands.
A husband who does not understand this inclination in women may have problems understanding his wife when she requests that he spends some time with her, or accompany her to the shops or to visit a friend. May God help us to appreciate these differences and to devise ways and means of accommodating each others tendencies. Dont miss next weeks column for more vital information about the opposite sex.
Post published in: Opinions