God, Sex, and Your Marriageنموونە

Faithfulness

As you’ve gone through the last few days of this plan, you may have been thinking, “Okay. I can kind of get my mind around the idea that our sex life is supposed to have something to do with God’s love, but what does that practically look like?”

Throughout the rest of this reading plan, we are going to cover four very practical elements of God’s covenant love that apply directly to your sex life.

The first thing we know about God’s love is His faithfulness. Faithfulness is the foundation of covenant. We have a relationship with God because we can trust His character. Even when you can’t feel His love, you learn to trust His promise that “I will never leave you or forsake you.” The Bible tells us that God is jealous for His covenant people, requiring them to honor their covenant by worshiping only Him. Throughout the Bible, we see that the spiritual unfaithfulness of God’s people is compared to sexual infidelity within the marriage covenant.

Faithfulness is critical to your sex life. It means that you love each other with your character. This alone will set the foundation that makes every other wonderful gift of sex possible. If you try to build a sex life without the safety of faithfulness, you will feel like you are building on quicksand.

This is why God created sex to be just between you and your spouse. The exclusivity of sex keeps your relationship safe from comparison and builds an environment that promotes freedom to be known and enjoy each other sexually.

Pornography fuels a “consumer” mentality of sex that undermines the idea of faithfulness. If you or your spouse have been influenced by pornography, it may take some time to rewire your thinking and establish the importance of faithfulness in your sexual relationship. This may take work and accountability, but it is worth it!

Faithfulness means more than saying “no” to sexual temptations. It means consistently saying with your words and actions, “I choose you.” Faithfulness is something you have to work towards. In our flesh, we say and do things that make marriage feel unsafe. You can determine today to become more and more like Christ in His character of faithfulness. This is perhaps the most important step you can take in building a healthy sexual relationship.

1. Why is God’s character so critical to your relationship with Him? What would your relationship with God be like if you couldn’t trust His promises?
2. Why do you think God used the picture of marital infidelity to explain what it is like when His people worship other gods?
3. What is one thing you can do as a couple to begin working towards greater faithfulness in your sexual relationship?