Happily Ever After: Devotions from Time of Graceنموونە

When You’ve Been Married a While: Sex Isn’t a Weapon

Marriage opens the door to a richness in life that single people don’t experience. Marriage can also trap you in a world of pain. When you’re dating and the relationship is getting unpleasant, you just don’t call for a while. When you live together, there’s nowhere to hide.

When you’re married, you are totally vulnerable—open 24/7 to attack from your mate, who knows all your owies and buttons to push. There are many ways to “punish” your spouse and “teach him a lesson”: verbal belittling, temper displays, or the silent treatment.

And then there’s the nuclear option: Don’t touch me. The Designer of marriage knew that under stress married people would reach too quickly for that weapon: “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” (1 Corinthians 7:3-5).

Well?