WOMAN: A Suitable Helper for MAN

February 3, 2010 by admin · 2 Comments
Filed under: Marriage

In the Creation story in Genesis, God creates woman to be a “suitable helper” for man. Many believe this verse belittles women. In fact, there are a number of verses throughout the Bible that the world views as demeaning to women. And to be honest, I was among that crowd. I’m no feminist, but when I was deciding what I wanted the pastor to say during my wedding, I deliberately left those traditional verses out of the ceremony. I wish I knew then what I know now…

I love my church because, instead of preaching a lot of theory and theology, we spend our time studying in depth the Word of God. We’ve spent 15 weeks so far studying Genesis – and we haven’t even finished Chapter 2! One of our pastors, Michael Easley, always says “Don’t let the world teach you theology.” I think, that when it comes to the view of women in the Bible, too many let the world teach them theology.

God creates Woman to be a suitable helper for Man. We forget that Jesus Christ was sent here to help us. Being a “helper” is not second class or demeaning. Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. Jesus was a servant to His disciples. We should all (men and women) view being a helper as a place of honor in our families and our communities.

During last week’s sermon, Michael Easley quoted some scholar from the 5^th century (I couldn’t catch his name). What he said was so beautiful I just had to share it:

“Let us remember God did not take the woman from the man’s feet, that he should dominate her or trample her. Nor did he take her from his head, that she should dominate him. But from his side to be his companion. From beneath his arm to receive his protection. And from near his heart to have his love and affection.”

I am honored to by my husband’s helper. What about you?