Becoming One Flesh- When?

Hello good people, I hope you are doing well?
Writefreak and I have a few poignant topics, based on the need we see on blogville that we will like to write about but some research is required. While we do our research, please enjoy this article I wrote a while back on my other blog. A few changes have been made.

Just My Humble Opinion! Feel free to agree or disagree :)

When the bible says that “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” I believe becoming “one flesh” in all areas should ONLY happen in marriage. Many single people especially ladies in relationships are jumping the gun and already becoming one flesh with their partners. Am not talking about sex, that is a diferent topic for another day (yes we shall be talking about this very soon). I am actually talking about ladies becoming one flesh emotionally with their partners. Ladies who do not have lives of their own any more but are glued to their boyfriends or fiancés. I am saddened when I see ladies behave so carelessly.

Some ladies in the name of love abandon their girlfriends when they start a new relationship revolving their world around their men. The guy gets tired of the relationship, dumps girl and the girl is left stranded with no friends for support. Being in love is good, sweet, heavenly etc but we should not let our love become something else in the process. A good friend of mine said to me once: “In marriage 1+1 = 1 but in a relationship 1 + 1 = 3". I asked him to elaborate on this. He explained that when you are married you become one with your partner because you practically start a new life together, ideally start having sex (spiritual oneness..some deep stuff we can't go into now) but when you are single and in a relationship; the girl has "her life" (1), the guy has "his life" (2) and they “their life” (3). Meaning that both the girl and guy should have both individual and common interests. I totally agree with this analysis. This way there is a balance in the relationship. When there is no balance, one person will always feel choked in the relationship and this can be disastrous.

Some examples of "clingy" behavior:

- When most of the girls at your birthday gig are girlfriend's to your man's guy friends and not neccesarily your own friends.

- When a girl can’t go anywhere alone– parties, outing with other friends etc except Mr. boyfriend comes along. If boyfy can't come, she will find an excuse to back out of the outing

- When everything a girl talks about is remotely or directly linked to her boyfriend. She must always mention boyfriend's name in every sentence. Personally I don’t have an issue with girls talking about their men but am sure we can have a decent conversation without his name been mentioned in every sentence!

- Mr Boyfy has to endorse everything she does, wears, spends etc.

I can go on and on about examples but that is not the point. The point is ladies need to reach a point in their lives where they don’t have to rely on mr. boyfriend for everything. Ladies that are overly dependent on their men are setting themselves up for a BIG fall either now or in the future. The irony of the matter is that guys in relationship still hang out with their friends, so why can’t we ladies take a cue from guys…why do you feel that until you forsake every thing for a guy he won’t/can’t love you. That is a lie from the pit of hell. I implore you singles, in relationships, about to marry etc please note that a mature guy respects an independent woman and not one that clings. Get a life, get a hobby, get passionate about something outside of the man in your life. You need it! Even in marriage, becoming one flesh with your husband doesn’t mean not having a life of your own.

We have been called to live a purposeful life and this definitely involves more than the men in our lives.

Selah

Boundaries, do we need them?

Without preparation, failure is inevitable. If u fail to plan, you plan to fail. A wise man once said 'begin with the end in mind'.

Have you been in a relationship where you started with no definition,and then wondered 'how did we get here'? You started out 'going with the flow', things seemed pretty cool and it was easier not to make any decisions, then all of a sudden you found yourself in a position you thought you could never be.

For instance Ade is your very good friend, you feel so close. Eventually, you do what everyone has advised you to do, you hook up somehow. Yay, do I hear wedding bells ringing in your head? You start holding hands, nothing wrong in holding hands, then you graduate to putting your arms around each other which is very cool.

One day you and Ade decide to take a walk in the night, you get to a point where you stop, while talking and enjoying each other's company, the atmosphere is just right for an embrace. You proceed, then somehow, you find yourselves kissing eachother, his hand somehow ends up in your blouse, your head screams an alarm but it feels too right, can something which feels so right be wrong? There's a pang of guilt but you go ahead. In a couple of months, Ade asks you to sleep over, you can't disagree, it will give you time together, yah? Remember you haven't even decided how far you want to go. At first he sleeps on the couch but it's too uncomfortable, so you snuggle together and it's a cold night. Ade puts his arms around you, then his arms start roving your body. Again, the alarm goes off but it feels so right yet so wrong.


When you do not set boundaries, you start resenting the other person when you feel like they have overstepped their boundary. Why? Because in your head, you have the boundary, the only issue is that the other person is totally oblivious to it! Also when you violate your personal boundaries, guilt sets in and you lose a sense of peace. Do I have a witness??

Here are a few tips for setting boundaries in your relationships (applicable to both men and women):

1. Begin with the end in mind- Decide how far you want to go in your relationship. Is this a lifetime relationship or not? Ask serious questions about the result of your relationships. Get to a point where you guys have verbally declared your intentions

2. Make sure you are in agreement - Amos 3:3 says 'can two walk together except they agree?' Agree what are the limits in your relationship. Do we want to stop at holding hands? Are we going to kiss? Make sure your beliefs are similar, else you will not be able to set any boundaries.

3. Have a vision for your relationship. Where do you hope to get? What is our aim in coming together? It might help if you write it down. Remember where purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable!

4. Be accountable to someone- it helps when you have someone you talk to and can be a voice of reason or act as a check. No man thrives in isolation and when you start to go beyond boundaries, you tend to become more secretive.

5. Communicate. Be open and honest with each other. Share your thoughts. There will be times when you will might feel the boundaries are too harsh, share with your partner and let him or her know what you're feeling.

The benefits of setting boundaries are enormous. It gives a sense of knowing what you want, believe in and are willing to stand up for which ultimately will earn you your partner's respect. Start setting those boundaries. It's not too late to start.


'P.S: if you have a topic you would like us to discuss, please feel free to email us. We will do our research and then post on the said topic. Fear not, even secrets are safe with us! :)