Divine Design

This week's topic is a very touchy, potentially very political, topic… Gender and the Family. 

As I've been thinking about how to blog about this through the week, I honestly just wanted to skip it. I don't want to make this a political post, but I'm hesitant to make this post a religious one. I've been debating with myself, and I've decided to post what I believe, honest and upfront.

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I believe that gender is lovingly assigned to us, by God, even before birth, and that marriage is between a man and a woman. The Church released a wonderful document titled “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” I highly recommend you read it. My favorite paragraph is as follows:

All human beings – male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

Did you catch that? We are all created in the image of God and we are all the gender God designed us to be. If God is a perfect God, would He mistakenly make me a girl? No. I’m a girl, and I have divine duties to fulfill, just as men have their own duties to fulfill. 

Women tend to be more nurturing, and we are this way instinctually. When was the last time you heard your dad or husband ask why the kids are being so quiet? I for one, have never heard a man ask, and that’s okay. Men are designed to preside over the family, to provide and protect. Men have a greater ability to focus on one sole task at a time. I can’t do that. I need to multitask, or at least have music to also focus on while I read, study, or do homework. 

There are other obvious differences between men and women. Women tend to be more social and cooperative, while men tend to be aggressive and competitive. Women tend to express emotions more frequently and freely, while men are more reserved. Men tend to view things as more “3-D” while women use visual pictures to get a mental picture. For example, if I were to ask a random man and a random woman (assuming they are within the norm for their respective gender) and asked them for directions to the store from my apartment, I would get two different kinds of answers. The man would give me an answer using more directional (North, East, South, West), while the woman would give me directions using more landmarks. 

This difference in gender roles and skills is good for marriages. Think of how opposites attract. When two people who think differently come together as a partnership, it allows for greater diversity when parenting and teaching children.

I do not mean to say that those who are LGBT+ are bad, I simply don’t agree with their views. See my last post about tolerance and how we can not only coexist, but also love, those who have different values than us. I try to love and support everyone.