Jun 24 (May 6) - 1 Corinthians 7:3ff

For some reason this devotion didn’t get sent out to most of my groups. Therefore, I’m sending it again!

 

The husband should give to

his wife her conjugal rights, and

likewise the wife to her husband.

For the wife does not have

authority over her own body,

but the husband does.

Likewise the husband does not

have authority over his own body,

but the wife does.

Do not deprive one another,

except perhaps by agreement

for a limited time, that you

may devote yourselves to prayer;

but then come together again,

so that Satan may not tempt you

because of your lack of self-control.

1 Corinthians 7:3ff

 

Did you know that that was in Scripture?

 

God cares about every aspect of our lives!

 

He knows we have powerful desires — desires (remember), not needs. Therefore, he created the ultimate context for them to be fulfilled — marriage. 

 

If you stop at the phrase, “the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does,” then Scripture could sound very misogynistic. But when you realize that God gives the same privilege to a wife over her husband’s body, then this mutual trust and sharing should be seen in the context of the beautiful, Genesis 2, one-flesh union.

 

And when you put this in the context of the Ephesians 5:25 command for “husbands [to] love your wives as Christ loves the Church,” then it’s clear that this “belonging” is not for selfish pleasure, but for selfless and self-giving care.

 

But here’s the wonderfully sneaky way in which God works and blesses us ... When we create an environment of selfless care, we create an environment of trust and commitment ... and that’s when we get to reap the most consistent benefit of mutual pleasure!

 

Question: Are you creating the environment of selfless care, trust, and commitment? What do you need to do more fully to create this?

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who doesn’t want to

withhold selfless care