A repost (October 2013) of something I wrote last year. It has become very evident that marriages are under attack. Sweetheart and I have had to work hard at keeping our priorities straight along with keeping God in our marriage at all times. I think that now, more than ever, we need to set the right example to our children and our communities about the sacredness of marriage. Yes we go to counseling. Yes we seek guidance from those who have been married a long time. Yes we seek to daily offer our marriage to God. Yes we pray, on our knees, at our bedside ever single day. Do not neglect your marriage. After your relationship with God, it is the most important thing in your life.
"Now, getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. First, Is it a good thing to have sexual relations? Certainly—but only within a certain context. It’s good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder. The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality—the husband seeking to satisfy his wife, the wife seeking to satisfy her husband. Marriage is not a place to “stand up for your rights.” Marriage is a decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out. Abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it’s for the purposes of prayer and fasting—but only for such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it." 1 Corinthians 7:1-5 (The Message)
Yes. I wrote the words sexual relations. Shocking I know. I can just hear it now. How can you talk about sexual relations on a christian website? Those are private matters to be kept behind closed doors. Says who? God speaks very clearly about sex in the Bible. He invented it. He commanded us to have it. He created the desire that we have for it. In fact there is a book of the Bible (Song Of Solomon) specifically devoted to it. It is not a secret that married people have sex.Yesterday at church our pastor asked a question that rocked quite a few people back into their seats, myself included. How often do we pray together for the sexual relations of our marriage? When I brought this question up to sweetheart (who was out of town on a job) we both laughed nervously. Truth be told it is an uncomfortable conversation to have in any context, much less talking to God about it.
Pastor Shepperd pointed out that if we don't keep God in the middle of our marriage, Satan will step into that empty space and try to destroy what God has put together. While you could have heard a pin drop in our service, I was glad that for once a pastor did not shy away from something as important as the verses in 1 Corinthians 7:1-5. For some reason we think that God wants us to talk to Him about our finances, our kids, our job but not our sex life.
There is no part of our lives that the Bible does not cover. We are told over and over again that everything we need to know about life, love, happiness, and yes, even sex, is in His Word. Ephesians 6:18 tells us to "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." (NIV) If it is important to pray about where we should move or the new job we should take or how much to give as an offering, how much more important is it that we pray for the strength of our marriage? Every aspect of our marriage, including our most intimate relationship with our spouse, is not hidden from God. There is no shame in discussing it with Him. I attend Church Project in The Woodlands, TX. Click here to view Pastor Jason Shepperd's latest podcast covering 1 Corinthians 7:1-5
"Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group."
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