Marriage Teaching (Mar 98)

She Doesn't Think Like Me
March 1998
by Rich Murphy

Bill and Lisa were new Christians. Lisa had accepted the Lord at a Billy Graham crusade. Two months later, Bill agreed to go with her to church, and he became a new creation too.
One evening, Bill was studying the Bible. After all, if he was supposed to be the priest of the home, maybe he could find something to share with Lisa and the kids.
God took Bill to Philippians, and had him read there. In chapter four, he read, "But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Wow, thought Bill, this means that I don't have to worry about the bills! Jesus will provide for it. Even if we need a new car!
When he shared this with Lisa, she had a totally different view on the verse. She didn't see the financial needs being met, she saw her emotional needs being met.
"Why can't she see things the way I do," muttered Bill. "What is this? Does she think that just because she accepted the Lord a couple of months before me, she knows more about the Bible than I do? If this is the type of reception I'm going to get, why should I try to share anything with her?"

This is a common complaint by many couples. What is really boils down to is "why doesn't she/he think like me?" We've all heard the jokes about how little men know about the way women think. Even though they are jokes, we can't deny the truth that is behind them.
So, why do men and women think differently. Well, from a purely biological viewpoint, men think from the side of the brain that is logical, and women from the creative side. This is caused by the hormone Testosterone in the male fetus. Testosterone partially destroys the crossover paths between the two sides of the brain. Since the female baby doesn't have this hormone in evidence, these pathways are left intact.
For the spiritual side of this explanation, we have to look in Genesis. In Genesis 1:27 we see God creating man "in his own image." Then in Genesis 2:7-23 we see what appears to be another account of God creating man. Actually, in chapter 1, we see God creating man's spirit, and in chapter 2, we see God creating man's flesh, both male and female.
Let's take a look at the account in Genesis 1. Since God created man in His image, we can look at God's image to learn some things about the first man. First of all, God has both male and female characteristics. Secondly, God is a spirit. Thirdly, God is complete. So, we can safely say that the original man, created in Genesis 1, had these same characteristics.
A key passage is Genesis 2:21-22. In the King James it says that God took a "rib" out of Adam, and used it to make Eve. This is an incorrect translation. The actual Hebrew word implies more than just flesh. Since man is in three parts: body, soul, and spirit, God took part of each. So, some of the character, personality traits, and abilities stayed in the male, and others were transferred over to the female.
The next question this raises is: Why did God do that? Essentially what God accomplished was to multiply the effectiveness of man. By splitting man, than bringing man back together, He ended up with "One can put to flight a thousand, and two can put to flight ten thousand" (Deut 32:30).
Remember our story, when Bill showed Lisa the revelation he had from the scriptures, Lisa had a different revelation. When she shared hers with Bill, he had the wrong reaction. Instead of being upset, he should have rejoiced. God had used their differences to multiply their effectiveness. Instead of each only having one revelation from the Word of God, they had two!

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
-Genesis 1:27