Genesis 2:24, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
This title “Competing or Completing” came to my mind as I read my wife’s blog today and thought to myself, "Man, its been a while since I posted and now she is out blogging me!" While I say that “tongue in cheek”….well, sorta ….it is true that many marriages forget that there primary purpose is to cleave to each other and begin they begin to clash and compete with each other. Each spouse thinks it is their responsibility to change the other, and in essence a competition begins to see whose "differences" are superior and should be emulated in the other. While there will always be differences in personalities, opinions, likes, etc,, those differences actually become a strength when looked at like a puzzle piece. The different shapes of the puzzle fit together in a certain way that keeps everything together. Without the different pieces, the puzzle would endlessly slide around and never form the picture that it is intended to. If every piece was the same shape with ins and outs (not sure how to describe an actual puzzle piece??), the puzzle would never be complete.
Often, couples begin to look at their differences and deficiencies and wonder, “Why don’t we have more in common…he/she just doesn’t seem to get me…etc.” But when it comes to puzzles, and our marriages, the differences are not deficiencies – they are part of a large picture and are made the way they are for a purpose. As husband and wives, we should embrace the differences, knowing that God is putting together a masterpiece of a puzzle.
How do you view differences in your relationships?