WARNING: This post contains a topic of a sacred sexual nature and is intended for married couples only. Reader discretion is advised.
Coach Sam,
I have to first say THANK YOU for opening up this important discussion about intimacy in LDS marriage! I have had serious questions about mine and my husband’s relations, and until now, I felt like I had nowhere to turn for answers.
My husband and I have been married for several years. We have a wonderful marriage. He is very kind and good to me and I feel lucky to still feel completely in love with him and him with me. We discovered very early on in our marriage that I really enjoy sex and am able to orgasm IF we use scenarios/fantasies.
He starts off touching me and talking about a scenario "we're both at a party and meet up in a back room...." or "what if we were videotaping..." These scenarios get pretty steamy (obviously we are in the moment) and we use language that we wouldn't use in normal everyday life. We do make sure that the scenarios are also just between the two of us...no other people involved or things.
The problem? Lately, I am feeling really guilty and questioning if I am worthy to enter the temple. I get confused when I hear the brethren talk about lust as a complete sin or when I am asked if I am chaste. To be honest, I feel very "lustful" when I am intimate with my husband and I definitely don't feel chaste. I feel sexual.
My husband and I have talked about my feelings and he thinks we are just fine in the way we do things. We tried a few times to make love without the scenarios but I did not enjoy it.
These guilty feelings have made me not want to be intimate as much. I haven't been to the temple for 3 months and when I went the last time I asked my husband if we could abstain for a week prior so that I wouldn't feel so guilty there.
I feel like this is affecting my marriage. I want to continue to be intimate and have fun in my marriage, but I want to make sure we're clean also. I wonder if these scenarios are a form of porn.
I asked a trusted friend about all this and she thought that if I was feeling so guilty then there must be something wrong. That may sound true, but I am a guilt-prone person. I was raised in a home of perfection, I had some rebellious teen years, and spent 2 years in a bishop's office because I had a hard time forgiving myself the more I realized what I had done. I think this resulted in a "sex doesn't belong with the gospel" perspective.
I would so appreciate your insight.
Sincerely,
Baffled
Dear Baffled,
Thank you for reading and thank you for your question. You’re not alone. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of newly temple-wed couples who ask these same questions. “Okay, I’m married in the temple…now what does the “Law of Chastity” mean for me?”
The short answer is that you’re not sinning in any degree by engaging in the mental and physical sexual activity you described. The truth of the matter is, Heavenly Father wants you to engage in sex with your husband...and enjoy it!
I believe It pleases him that you fantasize about your husband sexually and that you are using your sexuality as a tool to bond with your husband.[i]
That being said, I don’t want to encourage you to ignore your feelings. Feelings are one of the ways the Spirit communicates with us.
if you feel bad about a particular kind of sexual practice, it doesn’t necessarily mean “don’t do it”. It could mean “don’t do it right now”. You may need to discontinue until you’ve learned more about what you’re feeling disturbed about.
What you have described in your letter could be a phenomenon that LDS sex therapist Laura M. Brotherson calls “the Good Girl Syndrome.”[ii] Growing up LDS, you were perhaps taught that “before marriage, good girls don't” a time or two?
Because that message is usually not followed up with “in marriage, good girls DO,” sometimes young people subconsciously get hung up on the “don’t” even after marriage. (In case you don’t already know, Laura Brotherson is the author of many excellent books that I highly recommend.)
Our parents and Church leaders (in their human frailty) may assume that, as soon as the children are married, a switch in the brain will flip over and they’ll automatically make the sexual mindset transition with no other outward instruction or figure it out on their own. This unfortunately is a common myth in our LDS culture.
Some newlyweds do figure it out on their own with help from the Spirit, but many don’t. Our current generation of leaders are getting better at reinforcing that sex in marriage is righteous in all its wonderful forms of expression.
Sex in marriage is the very definition of what is holy, pure and sacred.[iii] If you only express your sexuality with your husband, sex becomes a powerful glue that helps bond you both emotionally for eternity.
Consider this quote from the director of the school of family life at BYU, Dr. Dean M. Busby [iii.5]
Consider this quote from the director of the school of family life at BYU, Dr. Dean M. Busby [iii.5]
" We are anxious to point out that while the word 'erotic' has recently become associated with the [profane erotica] industry, where the adversary has hijacked its pure meaning and twisted it for his own schemes; its real roots are broader, deeper, and more noble than sexually arousing images. Erotic love IS the sexual passionate love sanctioned within marriage...
Another way to foster sexual creativity is for spouses to embrace their divinely endowed capacity for sexual fantasy, and to practice focusing their sexual thinking into their relationship rather than away from it. This private energy associated with [the sacred] erotic imagination can be funneled into shared sexual interactions."
That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? You are building an ‘eternal’ unit with your husband.
When we have sex with someone we’re not married to, or involve others in our sex (whether through profane erotica or creating fantasies in our mind about ourselves and another person when we have sex with our spouse), it loses its sacred potential.
It becomes something ordinary, unholy, not special anymore. This is what I believe the Brethren teach us with the Law of Chastity.
To keep it holy. To always treat it and hold it as something sacred, just as we would the temple.
But just because the temple is a sacred place doesn't mean we don't use it or stay away from it, or feel guilt for going. Instead, we do are to do it with joy and gratitude.
Men are that they might have joy, peace and happiness! God's plan for his children is to be happy. Guilt and misery for keeping the commandments is Satan's plan, not the Lord's.
When we have sex with someone we’re not married to, or involve others in our sex (whether through profane erotica or creating fantasies in our mind about ourselves and another person when we have sex with our spouse), it loses its sacred potential.
It becomes something ordinary, unholy, not special anymore. This is what I believe the Brethren teach us with the Law of Chastity.
To keep it holy. To always treat it and hold it as something sacred, just as we would the temple.
But just because the temple is a sacred place doesn't mean we don't use it or stay away from it, or feel guilt for going. Instead, we do are to do it with joy and gratitude.
Men are that they might have joy, peace and happiness! God's plan for his children is to be happy. Guilt and misery for keeping the commandments is Satan's plan, not the Lord's.
Consider this statement from the “For The Strength of Youth.” pamphlet:
“ Physical intimacy between husband and wife is beautiful and sacred. It is ordained of God for the creation of children and for the expression of love between husband and wife. God has commanded that sexual intimacy be reserved for marriage. (emphasis added)
In the gospel context, the term “lust” refers to sexual thoughts and sexual actions towards someone we are not married to. The context of the term implies a relationship in which there is no commitment or intent for commitment.
You have sexual desire that wants to be satisfied. God put those feelings of desire in men and women on purpose. We are chaste when we keep those sexual feelings within the bounds of marriage, towards our spouse.
You have sexual desire that wants to be satisfied. God put those feelings of desire in men and women on purpose. We are chaste when we keep those sexual feelings within the bounds of marriage, towards our spouse.
Just because we are married doesn’t mean we’re not going to be attracted to other people from time to time, or feel that chemistry when we engage in conversations with people we come across. If you haven’t felt it already, you will eventually.
Don’t be afraid of your feelings; communicate those feelings openly with your spouse, and with the Lord, and repent when you find yourself entertaining those thoughts. The Lord will not hold you unworthy for the stray thought if you continue to repent and strive to always do your best. Entertaining/dwelling such feelings for someone other than your spouse is lust, and will make us feel unworthy.
Don’t be afraid of your feelings; communicate those feelings openly with your spouse, and with the Lord, and repent when you find yourself entertaining those thoughts. The Lord will not hold you unworthy for the stray thought if you continue to repent and strive to always do your best. Entertaining/dwelling such feelings for someone other than your spouse is lust, and will make us feel unworthy.
Jeffrey R. Holland said,
“…, let me make it clear that attractions alone, troublesome as they may be, do not make one unworthy. The First Presidency has stated, “There is a distinction between immoral thoughts and feelings and participating in… immoral… behavior.” 2 If you do not act on temptations, you have not transgressed.
The failure to see that distinction sometimes leads to despair. I ache for those who do not understand that every blessing offered by God is available to anyone who obeys the laws upon which those blessings are predicated (see D&C 130:20–21). No one who lives the gospel should despair. Hope and peace come from the Comforter, and the answer to despair is to invite the Holy Ghost into our lives.”[iv]
If it helps you to make the separation between what is worthy or unworthy, instead of "lust" consider adding to your vocabulary the term “desire” for your husband. When you have those same thoughts, feelings, and actions for your husband as someone would when they "lust" after someone, you are instead engaging in the sacred context of “desiring your husband”, which is a perfectly righteous and worthy feeling.
The sharing of sexual fantasies and role-playing your sexual fantasies with your husband – as you described – do not make you unworthy to enter the temple. They are a healthy and mature expression of sexuality[v] that shows you have good communication and cooperation between the both of you. For more insight on this (from an LDS perspective), I invite you to also listen to Laura M Brotherson's podcast on sharing fantasies with your spouse. Click [HERE]
The physical love you show each other radiates out into your family. It will create a sense of peace in your children and grandchildren, and sets a very good example for them to follow as they fall in love and marry themselves someday.
It’s the refraining from such sexual activity within marriage that actually makes us unworthy – it’s my belief that those who deny their spouses marital intimacy when they are able to do so may be committing a sin of omission. [vi]
Doing sexual things with your husband (and keeping them private between the two of you) sanctifies you and makes you and your husband more worthy to enter the temple the MORE you do it. I hope we all would want to keep the marriage covenants made together over the altar.
The adversary would have you think the opposite. He knows that if he can make you feel unworthy for having sex with your husband and get you to stop, he can weaken or even destroy an eternal family. If he can keep you away from the temple by convincing you that having sex with your husband makes you unworthy to go, he’s won yet another victory.
I’ve seen such things needlessly happen to many good marriages, both in and out of the Church. The results can be truly tragic, and affect multiple generations of people… all because sex in marriage was too ticklish a topic to talk about other than to say ‘stay away’.
The “stay away from sexuality while you’re single” is a correct message, but should also be taught with “ but, in marriage, sexual intimacy with your spouse can be truly joyful and liberating!”
The “stay away from sexuality while you’re single” is a correct message, but should also be taught with “ but, in marriage, sexual intimacy with your spouse can be truly joyful and liberating!”
Talk with your husband about sex. Learn all you can about sex together. There are appropriate sources for learning.
I hope this all makes sense. Please let me know if it does not answer your question, or even raises more questions.
For more clarification and to see what the prophets and apostles say on this subject, I invite you to read a couple articles that I have written. You are also welcome to read them all – they are free to read at my blog:
Sexless Marriage and theSacrament talks more about how God commands us to have sex in marriage and how it purifies our spirit by doing so.
[i] President Joseph F Smith, Eternal Marriage Student Manual, pg. 139
[ii] Brotherson, Laura M, And They Were Not Ashamed
[iii] The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 311)
[iii.5] Busby, Dean M. PhD., Carroll, Jason S. PhD., Leavitt, Chelom J.D., M.S., Sexual Wholeness In Marriage, Book Printers of Utah, 2013,67-71
[iii.5] Busby, Dean M. PhD., Carroll, Jason S. PhD., Leavitt, Chelom J.D., M.S., Sexual Wholeness In Marriage, Book Printers of Utah, 2013,67-71
[iv] Elder Jeffry R. Holland, Helping Those Who Struggle With Same Gender Attraction, Ensign, Oct. 2007
[v] Schnarch, Dr. David, Passionate Marriage, pg. 243-244, for his thoughts on the problems that occur when fantasizing about those other than your spouse.
