Wendy Watson-Nelson's Four Tips for Great Marriage - Commentary - Truth #3

 Click here if you missed Truth#1 and Truth#2

Truth #3:  As an important part of the expression of their love, the Lord wants a husband and wife to partake of the wonders and joys of marital intimacy.

This truth makes me very happy to hear, coming from both a marriage professional as well as an influential member of the Church. It’s a very profound truth.

Marital intimacy is ordained by God. It is commanded and commended by Him, because it draws a husband and wife closer together AND closer to the Lord.

This is a major key right here. The purpose of sex is to bring husband and wife closer together. If it’s pushing us apart instead, we’re doing it wrong.

True marital intimacy involves the whole soul of each spouse. It is the uniting of the body AND the spirit of the husband with the body AND the spirit of his wife.

This is another reason why profane erotica is not the best prescription as an arousal tool in marriage. It splits us and our affections, as we make love and give our feelings over to something not our spouse.  If we’re watching or reading or listening to profane erotica before we make love to our spouse, we not only lose the spiritual element of it, we won’t be thinking of our spouse. We’re instead thinking about the couple on the screen, or in the book. So spiritually we’re not connected and mentally we’re not connected. Where is the profound symbol in that?

That ‘soul-full’ union represents just how united a husband and wife are in all areas of their lives. They work together as partners, they pray, play, struggle, grow and enjoy life together. They sacrifice for each other, and encourage each other to be all they were born to be.

My dear brothers and sisters, marital intimacy is sacred. In fact, a husband and wife can be drawn closer to God when joined in true marital intimacy.

Procreation is an important reason for marital intimacy, but not the only reason, nor the most important reason. (Handbook 2, 21.4.4) The building and creating of a strong, intimate family unit that’s close to the Lord is the first and best reason for marital intimacy.

If procreation were really the first and best reason, then what would happen to those couples who could not have children? Their relationships would, by that secular and temporal perspective reasoning, die off out of lack of reason to even exist.

But this is not the case. In an eternal perspective, any couple who, for whatever reason, is unable to have children in this life can still go on to a glorious future full of increase if they work together to build their love for each other and the Lord here in this life.

So, how can you prepare for such intimacy? You will need to live righteously, so the Spirit can be the companion to you and your spouse. This leads to truth #4.