You Need Each Other - Crosswalk Couples Devotional - May 9
You Need Each Other
By: Vivian Bricker
“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).
A friend of mine has recently started getting into marriage therapy with her husband. While they had seen a marriage counselor in the past, it wasn’t the best fit. However, their new marriage counselor has been bringing many brilliant points up to them, which my friend shared with me. She was so overjoyed from what she learned in marriage counseling that she wanted to tell others.
The lesson my friend learned in marriage counseling with her husband was that they needed each other. Never before did my friend think about this. Rather, she had only assumed she wanted her husband, not necessarily that she needed him. She also had always seen herself as a proud, confident, and independent woman, which often left her feeling as though she didn’t truly need her husband.
After her marriage counselor pointed out how much she needs her husband and how he needs her, it gave her a new insight into their marriage. She realized she did need her husband after all. Once a couple has been married for many years, it is easy to take your spouse for granted. After all, your spouse has always been there.
However, we never need to play the dangerous game of thinking we don’t need our spouses. In truth, we need our spouses, and they need us. This is how God created the marriage covenant. It is not as though only the wife needs her husband, but rather that both the husband and the wife need each other. This is a beautiful truth that has changed my friend’s marriage and it can change yours too.
Genesis 2:18 points us to this same truth. God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” It is true that God was referring to Adam in this passage as he is “the man” referred to here, but God also says this about all men. It is not good for a man to be alone. This is why God created a helper and this was Eve—a woman.
When we look at things from this perspective, we see men are not independent of woman nor is women independent of men (1 Corinthians 11:11-12). A husband and a wife need each other. This is not a curse, but rather, a beautiful gift from God. Husbands and wives can find comfort, support, and encouragement from each other. The more a husband and a wife acknowledge their need for each other, the more love will be present in the marriage.
God wants you to build your marriage on Him and your love for each other. Allow yourself to rest in the truth that God did not create you to walk through this life alone. Husbands, your wives were created for you. Wives, you were created for your husbands. You are inseparable from each other as God has brought you two together. What God has joined together must not be separated (Mark 10:9).
Marriage counseling has a way of bringing out new truths in your marriage, just as my friend saw in her own marriage. This small tidbit of truth has helped her and her husband become more intentional in their marriage. No longer do they live as those who don’t need each other. They live in a way that acknowledges their need for each other, which also helps them extend love to one another.
If you want to get into marriage counseling, now is a great time to start. You don’t have to be going through something traumatic in your marriage in order to start going to marriage counseling. Rather, marriage counseling can be a proactive tool to help cultivate a beautiful, happy, and healthy marriage with your spouse. With time, you will see how much marriage counseling will strengthen your marriage.
Let’s go to God in prayer together,
“Dear God, sometimes I feel as though I don’t need my spouse. This world causes me to think I need to be sufficient in myself alone. Help me to remember that I need my spouse, and they need me. Please also help my spouse and me to be open to marriage counseling because I can see how much it can help marriages. Dismantle any biases I have against counseling and help me to accept it as a beautiful blessing. Thank You, Amen.”
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/bojanstory
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