God meant marriages to be partnerships that would help provide what both the husband and the wife need. In meeting some of these needs, however, spouses are required to do something to their partners.

They need to be open to their partners.

A Helper Who's Just Right

Genesis 2:18 says, "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.'"

Before God made the first woman, Eve, He saw a need. He saw that it's not good for man to be alone, and that is the reason why He made a "helper who is just right for him."

Some misinterpret this passage, concluding wrongly that a woman is simply meant to help her husband achieve his dreams or calling in life. The woman is sadly put on the backburner as a second-class citizen, someone whose only purpose is to help her husband. This is just plain wrong.

The key here is to realise two things: It's not good for the man to be alone, and that the wife is a helper who's tailor-made for that purpose.

Not Good to be Alone

It's good to be in community with people who care and understand each other. Men find comfort and assurance in men's groups, and same goes for the women. But what many fail to understand is that God meant marriage to be a warm, loving, and intimate "community" between two people.

God meant that a man's wife will be his closest and best friend, and that he will be his wife's closest and most intimate friend, too. God wanted the man to be open and transparent with her, and she to him. When we think about it, we realise that God's solution to a husband's loneliness and need for community is his own wife.

Tailor-Made

We read in the succeeding verses that before making Eve, God brought all sorts of animals to the man to see if a companion would be found for him, but there was none. There's no other being that could ever sustain a man's need for a companion: not a dog, a horse, nothing.

Contrary to how other people see it, there's only one being designed to meet a man's need for companionship and intimate friendship: only his wife.

Be Open

So how does being open fit in in this context? Simple. Any man who desires to be in genuine communion with his wife must be open to her, and she to him. Being open and honest towards one's own spouse brings varied benefits:

* It builds trust, which is fundamental to the relationship;

* It helps establish a deeper and more intimate relationship;

* It helps both spouses find security in each other;

* It paves the way for accountability and growth; and

* It gives both spouses goals to meet for each other's needs.

In the same way the closest and best friendships are made, the most intimate of marriages are made by open and honest individuals eager to love each other the more they know about one another. It will take effort, but it's truly worth it.