Stronger Together

“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him’” (Genesis 2:18, NIV).

One of the glorious elements of this verse is that we see an ever-present God who desires what is best for mankind and longs for His creation of man and woman to work with each other as a cohesive, unified couple. Man was never designed to, “be fruitful and increase in number” or to “fill the earth and subdue it”, on his own. Nor was he to, “rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky” (1:28), by himself. These were commands given to both Adam and Eve, together, with the understanding that each of their unique strengths and abilities would blend and meld into one uniquely designed unit.

God made marriage a truly unique relationship of work and service to be discovered between two totally different individuals. Men and women have been designed from creation to work alongside each other in marriage, unified in harmony as one flesh. Adam realized this when he named Eve, woman, because she was “taken out of man” (2:23). Eve was literally a piece of him. He could never consider her anything other than an extension of himself. This was no accident. God knew Adam and Eve needed one another. They needed each other’s strengths, each other’s passions, each other’s gifts, each other’s perspectives to richly serve Him to their fullest potential in marriage.

God did not bring my wife into my life to complete me. Nor did He introduce me to her making her whole, as if there was something missing from her life. No, He brought us together so that we might work alongside each other as a cohesive, unified couple, humbly giving our strengths, passions, gifts and perspectives to one another allowing us the opportunity to serve Him together to our fullest potential.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

It is to this end that Dwelling Place Ministries offers our series of retreats. Each retreat contains the name Unified in its title demonstrating a desire to strengthen and encourage you in your marriage as you work to serve our Lord together. If you are interested in attending one of our retreats, please visit us at www.dpcouples.org or email us at marriagematters@dpcouples.org for more information.

Fred Doehle

Dwelling Place Ministries

marriagematters@dpcouples.org