God's Design for Passion & Intimacy預覽

What Is God’s Opinion About Sexual Pleasure? The verses you read today tell you all you need to know about sexual pleasure. God’s opinion is that, outside of marriage, pursuing sexual pleasure is a destructive objective. In fact, it can lead to death – the death of a ministry, a marriage, a testimony and intimacy with God. The wisdom of Proverbs tells men and women to flee from sexual temptation. It is powerful and deadly. However, there is an abrupt change in the passage starting with verse 15. All of a sudden, sexual pleasure has become a wonderful, God-given gift. A husband is told to always delight in the sexual love of his wife. Wives are to do the same. The entire book of Song of Solomon validates the message of Proverbs 5:15-19. Within the covenant of marriage, erotic, exciting sex is a worthy pursuit for both the husband and the wife. A godly marriage should include frequent and satisfying sexual intimacy. Men and particularly women struggle to make the shift between Proverbs 5:14 and 15. After years of warnings like “don’t give yourself away, don’t think about sex, sex is bad!” all of a sudden, a wedding ceremony makes erotic pleasure something holy and God-honoring. It’s key to understand that a wedding ring doesn’t somehow redeem your sexual drive. Your body was created to be sexual and to experience sexual pleasure as part of the image of God. Your sexual drive speaks to the innate, God-given passion to connect, commit, celebrate and share yourself in the most intimate way with another human being. While sexual restraint is the challenge before marriage, uninhibited sexual expression is the challenge within marriage. Somehow, many Christians believe it honors God to withhold or subdue sexual pleasure in the marriage bed. Nothing could be further from the truth! Within the covenant of marriage, you have God’s permission to throw off every restraint and enjoy to the fullest the gift of sexual expression with your spouse. Question to Ponder: Do you feel like you have God’s permission to fully enjoy sexual pleasure in marriage? Why or why not? Action Step: Have a conversation with your spouse about how you can learn to bring each other greater pleasure in your sexual relationship.