Men Need Women. Women Need Men.
Last year, I watched a documentary of two couples who had to live like people did in the 1800s for a year. It was a great show! (I did a blog post about it but I forgot the name of it.) One of the women was a feminist and at one point was so frustrated that she couldn’t do the hard work of tilling the land and all of the work the men had to do but instead had to do the work of cleaning and cooking. She had a difficult time accepting the fact that God gave men and women different jobs to do!
“Man needs the help of a good woman. A home is not a home without a woman…but any woman who runs a business of her own, who meets the world on its own terms, often feels her frailty, often feels the need for stronger hands and shoulders and a bolder brain than her own…In the pioneer home, there was need for strong arms and hands to fell the trees and clear the land and till it. There was needed boldness for protecting the home against the Indians and courage to supply the larder with the wild meat. But in the cottage there was a need for daintier fingers to rock the cradle, to do the sewing and the cooking. And there was need for a tenderer heart, for a woman’s genius and a woman’s devotion and a woman’s loyalty.” (John Rice)
I asked the women in the chat room, “What’s something around the home that you NEED your husband to do because you are unable?” There were many great answers! Here are a few of them.
“Open Jars, carry heavy things, make babies (can’t without him anyways).”
“Fixing many things I break. Getting on the roof like he had to yesterday. Blow off leaves and clean the gutters, move stuff up and down from the attic, make babies, make big financial decisions, and the list could go on and on!”
“Use the chain saw, fix vehicles, build, and move heavy things.”
“Lifting anything heavy, open jars I can’t, electrical, plumbing, mechanical jobs, and he is much more precise at doing a task so I help hold things and I’m the clean up person. He gets to deal with the snakes and mice when I come in contact with them.”
“Make a living so I can stay home full time and care for the children and home.”
Men build the houses but men need women to make a house a home, bear and raise children, and take care of all the duties that come with keeping a home. God’s ways are so good and perfect for us!
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Matthew 19:4, 5
12 thoughts on “Men Need Women. Women Need Men.”
Amen to that! Women and men are equal in dignity and person hood and complimentary in roles. This is a far better way to look at it as men and women are different, and equal does not always have to mean identical. It’s far more sexist to presume the woman’s traditional role is inferior and she must be like a man.
My husband and I were talking about this just last night! I was cooking dinner and couldn’t get a jar opened! Then the garbage disposal got jammed up! This evolved into a conversation about all the years I had spent as a big bad divorced career woman. Oh the burden! The day in day out responsibility of not only providing financially, but attempting to maintain the home. The lawn work. Leaky faucets. Broken air conditioning. Crumbling landscape walls. Car trouble. Deteriorating fence posts. Safety vulnerabilities. And on and on. There was daily frustration and anxiety as I faced these struggles alone.
In turn, my husband recounted all of his years living in absence of a nurturing wife. Fast food sandwiches for dinner, or nothing at all. A house that was sterile and undecorated and not a “home” . No laughter, warmth or companionship.
This is all so bleak! And yet, this is the lifestyle of so, so many as we have been force fed to seek and embrace individuality! A man and woman’s need for one another has been labeled co-dependendency and this, of course, is defined as an unhealthy relationship! Entire industries to include books, movies, counseling, etc.have been forged on the premise that we must break free from this sickness or our lives will never be whole!
This is another trap set by the enemy!
I am grateful every day that the Lord opened my eyes to this deception, and I accepted His design for us. What a loving Father we have!
Fixing the kid’s toys! ? my kids will bring me something they busted and I try to figure out how to fix it but usually end up saying, “Let’s ask daddy later when he gets home”. At this point, after watching me fiddle with something broken for a moment or two, my 4 year old always says, “Daddy can fix it.”
Oh so true! God said it is not good for a man to be alone so He created a suitable helper for them. We are also told “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.”
Proverbs 18:22 –
I’d hate to argue with God. ?
That is really a lovely quote from John Rice which points to the even lovelier complementary design of God making them male and female.
It is not good that the man should be alone.
Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favour of the Lord.
The younger women are to marry, bear children, and guide the house.
The woman was made for the man.
To avoid fornication, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband.
Amen!
I need my husband to open jars, carry heavy stuff, help discipline son(sometimes my tender heart sees past some actions, but hubby is always consistent! Sons need their fathers big time!), fix and build things.
I think you mean ‘frontier house’. ?
Change the lightbulbs! We live in a big old villa with 12 foot high ceilings and I suffer from vertigo so can’t stand on anything to reach the lightbulbs. My husband can reach from the stepladder easily and he isn’t bothered by heights.
These women are very lucky. Mothers need to raise sons to this idea of masculinity. And they need to be especially cautious not to spoil them with a sense of reliance. Or their graduation from mother to wife will be just to fill a void not to fill a responsibility. Most office working men wouldn’t know how to clean a roof or fix a car. Women and men both have gaps to fill in terms of femininity and masculinity.
My hubby does all the reaching for me, he is better at maths, while I am better at English than he is. I will cook, while often he will do the dishes. And he takes out the huge spiders (called Huntsman in Australia), as I have a spider phobia. We work together, and it works really well!
My husband is truly God’s gift to me. He was only 26 when we married but he was and continues to be wise beyond his years. His love for God is infectious. I hands down credit him for the spiritual growth and maturity that I have attained since we got married. I was a very weak Christian when we met. A feminist, mixed up in my views on life. My husband (then boyfriend) introduced me to the doctrines of grace. He explained to me how salvation is a monergistic work of God. He lent me many wonderful books by faithful teachers like Spurgeon, Tozer, Edwards, Calvin, Sproul, Lloyd Jones and many others. It’s felt like my eyes were opened to the wonders of God for the first time. Over the years, my husband has continued to influence my walk with God and support my learning and time in the Word. No question is too much for him. It may take him long to look into some of my questions because our life is busy but he gets to it all the same. I loved my own father very much but I saw that it was my mother who was always keen on the things of God. I wanted to marry a man who was everything my father was; strong, hardworking, committed; but above all, a solid practicing Christian. God graciously answered my prayer above and beyond anything that I asked for. I love listening to my husband reading Bible stories to our children (that was my mother’s job as my father was literally the last member of our family to make a confession of faith; which was way after I got married) and answering their questions. I love hearing him going through the children’s catechism with them and I really appreciate that he feels that the buck stops with him so he is diligently watchful for the well-being of each one of us, materially and spiritually.
Gosh my husband does pretty much everything “manly” around the house and does all of the yard work. I am a huge “girly-girl” and am afraid of everything! If you looked up “barefoot and pregnant ditzy little housewife” in the dictionary you’d see my picture! I do my best with cooking and cleaning and was always a pro at getting pregnant whenever my husband decided he wanted me pregnant! It truly takes a good husband and wife to create and maintain a good family the way I see it.