Companionship in marriage is a key element! When you think about needs, do you only think about meeting your own needs or do you put meeting your spouse’s needs first?
Our Need for Companionship
“It is not good for the man to be alone” (Gen 2:18a). Human beings, whether male or female, are in need of companionship. In this verse it is Adam who is all alone and very much in need of a companion. The Lord graciously meets this need for him.
God’s Principle
“I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen 2:18b). The Lord created marriage for various reasons, but one of them was in order to meet humanity’s need for companionship. In Genesis 2 Eve was perfectly created to help meet Adam’s need for a companion.
It is important to note that the need for companionship goes far beyond the realm of the sexual. We are indeed physical beings with physical needs, but we are also emotional and spiritual beings.
The Lord created the institute of marriage not only to meet our physical needs, but to meet our needs as a whole person: physical, emotional and spiritual.
The husband and wife are uniquely qualified to meet these needs of companionship for one another.
Our Response
Three questions to ask yourself:
- What is our overall approach to our spouse?
- Do we approach them as someone to meet our needs, or do we approach them with an attitude of seeking to meet their needs?
- What are the unique ways that we are able to meet the needs for companionship that our spouse has
Remember that our spouses might have emotional, spiritual or physical needs that differ from our own. It can be very helpful to ask our spouse exactly what their companionship needs are and how we can best meet them.