Seek Unity, Not Division

"To the woman he said, 'I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.'" ~ Genesis 3:16

Not to wade into controversy, but many people misinterpret this scripture or simply don't even try to interpret it for lack of understanding.

When Eve sinned, God says that her desire will be for her husband. This doesn't really like a punishment, does it? Most people in marriage would say that spouses desiring each other would be a good thing, right?

But if you look at other translations, the conflict becomes clearer. For example, the NLT interprets this scripture to read "And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.'" Similarly, the English Standard Version says "Your desire shall be contrary to husband."

Here, we see why God's statement is such a bad thing. God says that there will be conflict within marriages because spouses will seek to control each other.

Regardless of what you think about the gender dynamics, or lack thereof, that play out because of this scripture, the point is that we see this type of division, not just in marriages, but in other parts of society as well. Families, nations, occupations, races, socioeconomic classes, and many other divisions exists because we are trying to control each other.

But God offers a different path through His Son. There are over 100 scriptures in the Bible imploring us as Christians to live and walk in unity. Here are just a few:

1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV - I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

1 Peter 3:8 ESV - Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

Be clear - the enemy will try to cause division among mankind. It's up to us to seek unity where it can exist.

Seek unity today fam!

God bless,

J.W.