Men And Women Think Differently Series

Men and Women Think Differently

(Genesis 3:1-7)

1. The differences between men and women are legion.

2. For example,

"In a Harvard study of several hundred preschoolers, researchers discovered an interesting phenomenon. As they taped the children’s playground conversation, they realized that all the sounds coming from little girls’ mouths were recognizable words. However, only 60 percent of the sounds coming from little boys were recognizable. The other 40 percent were yells and sound effects like "Vrrrooooom!" "Aaaaagh!" "Toot toot!" This difference persists into adulthood.

"Communication experts say that the average woman speaks over 25,000 words a day while the average man speaks only a little over 10,000. What does this mean in marital terms? . . . On average a wife will say she needs to spend 45 minutes to an hour each day in meaningful conversation with her husband. What does her husband sitting next to her say is enough time for meaningful conversation? Fifteen to twenty minutes--once or twice a week! " www.highrpraise.org

3. Men and women are different down to their very souls, but millions of people live to old age and go to their graves oblivious of even some of the most basic differences.

4. Unless you live in an environment that is totally segregated by gender, it pays to understand how men and women differ. Our first point will be relevant to all situations, whereas the last two are applied to marriage.

Main idea: If you are going to minister to people of both genders, you have to respect both genders and try to understand how both genders operate. This is true in marriage, church, evangelism, business, and community.

I. The Male Pattern, The Female Pattern, and God

A. How God WIRED the Brain

1. everyone’s brain is constantly changing its physical shape…certain areas adding cells, certain areas deleting them

Best things to do: play an instrument, read, and listen to dramas/entertainment

Worst things to do: movies, television, videos, drugs, do not use…

2. male and female brain Male/Female

Female brain more connected, great for divided attention

Male brain segregated, great for concentrated focus

The difference in shape and connectivity occurs at 6 weeks in the womb

Both configurations have their pros and cons…

Sometimes something goes wrong

B. Moral Decision-Making DIFFERENCES

"Christian women often find themselves on the horns of a dilemma: Should they make moral decisions on the basis of rules and abstract principles (ignoring their concern for others), or should they make moral decisions on the basis of what seems best for all parties, regardless of the rules of abstract principles?" Alice Matthews from Preaching That Speaks to Women, p. 38.

C. The Male and Female Moral Value Mentality Defined

1. Men: objective laws to be obeyed no matter what the relational fallout

2. Women: maintaining harmonious and right relationships is what is crucial

3. The example of the Fall (Genesis 3:1-7)

4. Paul’s explanation (I Timothy 2:11-15)

5. Could it be that Eve also wanted to please the serpent?

6. Take abortion: most men who want to abort a baby do not want the responsibility of a child; most women who abort do so to keep on good terms with their family and/or boyfriend

C. How God Demonstrates BOTH Patterns

Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Note that both genders are in God’s image, the implication being that to understand God, we must understand what is good in both genders and combine them.0

1. Objective laws to be obeyed

I Tim. 5:21, "I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism."

2. Emphasis on right relationships (if your brother is offended… do not hate your brother in your heart)

I Tim. 5:1-2, "Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity."

Sometimes right relationships are more important than some of the lighter matters of the law… Jesus healing on the Sabbath was basically an issue about this…

3. God’s balance of justice and mercy must be our model… a difficult balance to achieve…

II. How the Male/Female Patterns Lead to TROUBLE

A. Men/women UNDERESTIMATE differences

--It is bad not to know, but worse to not know that you don’t know

--It takes an open mind to believe that the person whom you married is that different; the real test of an open mind is accepting as true what you do not understand

--I encourage home school parents who have children of the same gender to socialize with families who have some children of the opposite gender…