[Christian marriage] . . . forces you over the years to learn how a person of the other sex habitually looks at and reacts to people and situations. . . . [C]all this “cross-gender enrichment.” . . . But . . . in a strong Christian community, where the sharing of our hearts and lives goes beyond the superficial down to what God is teaching us and how he is forming and growing us . . . in . . . mutual “one-another” ministry, a kind of cross-gender enrichment happens naturally. (Hardcover, pp. 200–201; paperback, pp. 229–30)
DIFFERENT DIFFERING GIFTS. The Bible tells us that Christians have differing gifts—no one can do everything well (1 Corinthians 12:4–7). But churches often fail to recognize that a man and a woman who share the same gift will exercise it somewhat differently, with diverse insights often reaching and helping different persons. So often we need both men and women doing the same ministry in partnership side by side. Since we all have one Creator who made us, male and female, in his image, it would be wrong to neglect the gifts he has given to men and women to strengthen his Body. We must honor one another as we each inhabit the roles he has given us in which to exercise our gifts.
Reflection: Men, do you honor the gifts that women bring to a meeting, a conversation, or a task? Women, do you honor the gifts that men bring to a situation? How could you do better?
Thought for prayer: Take time to think about at least one man and one woman who ministered to you in different but profound ways. Thank God for them both, and ask God to help your church fully use the gifts of men and women together.