Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 84

March 25;   I Corinthians 7:3;   140/260(I);   ‘Mutual Gratification’

1 Corinthians 7:3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.

God’s love is to govern every aspect of a Christian’s life.  This includes sexual relations.  As defined in I Corinthians 13:5, God’s love ‘does not seek its own,’ or is not selfish.  This means that neither a husband nor a wife are to seek only their own pleasure in times of intimacy, but they are to earnestly seek to gratify each other.  The Message Bible translates this verse to mean that the husband and wife should seek to satisfy each other sexually.  The Agape love of God is the key.  God’s love is interested in blessing others, not just selfishly pleasing oneself.  Natural, human love can be and often is only interested in pleasing you, with no regard for your spouse.  The Lord, contrary to what the world may teach, is the Creator of sexual intimacy.  He created it not only for pro-creation, but for the married couple to enjoy each other physically.  Selfishness or offensive behavior has no place in the life of a Christian marriage.  The love of God, if followed, in every circumstance has the best opportunity to make relational experiences blessed and fulfilling.  The key is to do what the Word says.  God’s ways are very different from the ways of the world, but they offer the best opportunity to bless the husband and wife who follow what God says.  A husband and a wife are made completely different sexually.  When a husband loves his wife enough to focus on the needs of his wife and when she does the same, physical intimacy becomes the blessing the Lord has always wanted it to be.  When we are looking for help in any aspect of marriage, you need go no farther than God’s Marriage Manual, The Bible.