Celebrate the Difference
A hammer and a screwdriver are different tools designed for different jobs. Is the hammer better than the screwdriver? No. Is a screwdriver better than a hammer? Of course not! Can you use a screwdriver as a hammer? Maybe, but it won’t work as well.
Who is better, men or women? The answer to that question is “Yes!” A man is infinitely superior to a woman at being a man, and a woman is infinitely superior to a man at being a woman. Men and women are different—by design. Neither is superior to the other, but they are very, very different.
I want to address the wonderful differences between men and women. These differences aren’t true in every single case, but they are generally true.
The Beauty and the Beast
Men are generally stronger than women. First Peter 3:7 tells men to give “honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel.”
God made Adam stronger because he was to be the provider and the protector. He had a physical frame that could protect Eve and muscles to dig and work in the garden.
The word Eve means “life-giver.” God made her to be the nurturer. Because she was weaker than Adam, doesn’t mean she was inferior. Silk is weaker than canvas and porcelain weaker than steel, but they are certainly not inferior.
The Tortoise and the Hare
Generally, men have more energy, but women have more durability. Remember the race between the tortoise and the hare? Men, you are like the hare, and your wife is like the tortoise. Remember who won that race?
Men have a larger lung capacity, but women have a better immune system. A man can outwork a woman, but he ought not to criticize her for that. She can last longer.
The Romantic and the Mechanic
Because of man’s job, he has a hard outer shell. He will never have the romantic heart that a woman wants him to have. He’s just not wired that way.
Look at what women read. Their magazines have articles like “Five Ways to Achieve Intimacy” while men read “How to Remodel Your Garage.” Go to a high school and watch how the students carry their books. Girls carry them like they’re carrying a baby. Boys hang theirs down to their sides. Give a little boy a doll; he’ll use it for a hammer. Some people try to tell us that these differences are learned, but they’re not; they are encoded.
The Radar and the Computer
Men and women process information differently. A man’s brain works more like a computer while a woman’s is more like a radar. She has a great big reception disk, and it sweeps—taking in everything. She can see things and feel things that men don’t see and feel.
That’s because a woman uses both sides of her brain. This makes it easier for her to express emotions, but it may also be harder to separate emotion from reason. Using primarily the left side of the brain, a man tends to think more logically, analytically, and factually. Even as a woman is thinking logically, she is mixing in emotion.
The Code Speaker and the Reporter
A woman uses language to express emotion while a man uses language primarily to dispense facts. Women share, but men report.
Don’t listen to what a woman says, listen to what she means. If you sense, for example, that she is upset, but she says nothing is wrong; that means everything is wrong. Women speak in code. Men, on the other hand, just report the facts.
The Lover and the Achiever
God told man to dress the garden and keep it, but He gave women a nurturing instinct. And God equipped each mentally and emotionally to do their jobs; man is primarily an achiever while woman is a lover.
In Ephesians 5:33, God tells the man to love his wife, but He tells the wife to reverence or respect her husband. That’s because God knows our deepest needs.
United, not Divided!
These differences, believe it or not, shouldn’t divide us. They should unite us. God made us different that He might make us one. These are more than mere psychological proclivities; they are there by divine design. Aren’t you glad that God made us different? It’s time to stop trying to be the same or resenting each other because of our differences. It’s time to start celebrating the difference!
