Rachel & Leah.

Leah and Rachel were sisters.

Leah was the older sister, plain in her appearance, meek and quiet in her demeanor, a magnetic personality. She longed to be loved and remained loyal to Jacob despite her loneliness.

Rachel was the younger sister, beautiful in appearance, sweet and graceful in demeanor, lovely in every way. She was desperate to be a mom and devoted wife to Jacob.

Jacob had his eyes set on the beautiful Rachel and his heart wrapped up in her. She was younger but he didn't care, he had his heart set on her. Jacob worked for Rachel for 7 years then was deceived and given Leah's hand in marriage instead. So he worked 7 more years for Rachel and remained loyal to her, meanwhile, overlooking Leah.

This is when the story gets really sad. It turns to a story of envy, jealousy, rivalry and competition.

Rachel envied her older sister for being able to bear many children while she sat by and watched. Her envy grew. She had the love and attention of Jacob but that wasn't enough. She was impatient and insisted on having her own way no matter the consequences.

Leah envied her younger sister for being loved and adored by Jacob. She felt undesired and unloved. Instead of feeling sorry for herself all the time, she turned to prayer and praise in all things.

We can learn from these sisters.

Although it's not accepted in modern day for two sisters to marry the same man, there are still traits we can learn from and loveliness we can model after.

Rachel could've turned her attention to prayer and praise, and loved her sister's children. She could've kept her faith in the Lord despite her disappointment.

Leah could've found her sense of identity in herself and the way God views her. She could've been content just being a mother despite Jacob's lack of adoration for her.

But. . .it's still difficult to say that when women were made to thrive in loving marriages AND embrace motherhood. One sister had the loving marriage and the other sister had motherhood. And bother sisters were discontent with not having both.

A last thought. . . we don't always realize the pain someone else goes through until we ourselves face that pain. We must consider what others are going through, consider what our sister is facing and bond closer together, instead of fall more apart like Leah and Rachel did.

Which sister can you relate with more?