INTIMACY AND MARRIAGE Proverbs 5:18–19 We have talked about enjoying our sexuality in the safety of a relationship based on love—a place where truly safe sex can happen. King Solomon said that our fountain should be blessed and that we should take pleasure in the wife of our youth. Sex is intimacy without insecurity. It means to be satisfied in a relationship of sexual intimacy. That is our best offense. Proverbs refers to the woman as a loving deer and a pleasant dove. How do you approach a deer? You do not chase a deer yelling, “Hey! Get over here, deer. Come here. Come here!” If you do that, it is going to run! A woman is going to run if someone approaches her like that. You must approach a deer gently and kindly. Men, women are looking for more romance in their marriage than husbands are giving them. They are looking for more kindness and gentleness. It is not just a physical thing; it is wooing. It is caring. It is pursuing. Sometimes in our marriages, we begin to slow down on that and not do it quite as much. However, as wives are looking for more romance, most likely husbands are looking for more frequency. When both romance and frequency increase, good things begin to happen. You can love one another and care for one another instead of taking advantage of one another. Then you can come together and find satisfaction. Fifty-six percent of divorces are now based on Internet pornography. Let’s ask the Lord for His blessing, praying, “God, we want to walk in our marriage with greater romance, greater frequency. We want to be satisfied in one another.” God created sex, and He has a plan. If you think that God’s plan is wrong and the world’s plan is right, look at the results. The world is in chaos. However, there is forgiveness, faithfulness, and fulfillment in Jesus Christ. God can take your pain and your brokenness and restore the years that the locusts have eaten. I am not calling you to get better filters on your computer. I am inviting you to come to Christ, to let the forgiveness of Jesus wash over you and let Jesus be the strength in your life and your guide in loving your spouse. Husbands, are you treating your wife tenderly? Wives, are you being a pleasant dove? For further study: 1 Corinthians 10:13
JULY 28