"The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self‑control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. "
1 Corinthians 7:3-6
"Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
Genesis 2:24
"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body."
1 Corinthians 6:18
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."
Ephesians 5:25
"May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
A loving doe, a graceful deer—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be captivated by her love.
Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress?
Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife?
For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord,
and he examines all his paths."
Proverbs 5:18-21
Today my wife and I are married 23 years! Another milestone, it is a day to celebrate, congratulate, and a time to reflect and consider our history, our future, God's Word, and our responsibilities to each other. The marriage relationship between husband and wife is sacred, a reflection of the most heavenly institution and here's where we need to be really wary-it is the prime target of our enemy, who wants to steal, kill, and destroy marriages.
Praying together is really important, as well as having open communication, but I want to talk about intimate things here. In 1Corinthians 7, Paul talks about husbands and wives being owned by one another, our very bodies not titled to ourselves and we are not to "hold out" on our spouses, using sex as a tool or weapon, but to meet one another's needs and fulfill each other's desires. We belong to one another, and there are emotional connections that are forged and maintained in the marriage bedroom that tie spouses together spiritually and emotionally in a way that nothing else can, and sexual intimacy is a gateway for other areas of communication in marriage. Consider failed marriages ... You will usually find that the sexual and spiritual relationships, the all important intimacy, ended long before the divorce papers were signed.
There is a reflection of first love that must be pursued...we should desire to be with our spouse as it was in the beginning of the romance, forsaking all else, everything else being a distant second to being together. If we are not feeling it, then we need to "get back to the basics", take a second honeymoon of sorts.
Today, rejoice and revel in each other...as it was when you began, it's part of His Plan.
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