Intimacy in Marriage

The first commandment given to man in all of time is found in Genesis 1:28:

"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth"

Likewise, I believe the best marriage counsel ever given is found in the second chapter of Genesis verse 24 as Heavenly Father is presenting Eve to Adam. The Lord commands:

1) "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother"

2) "and shall cleave unto his wife"

3) "and they shall be one flesh"

We must recognize the significance of these two verses in the very beginning of our sacred text to know that sexual intimacy is not just a way to bring children into the world, but that it is a commandment to bring husband and wife closer together.

President Spencer W. Kimball has said, "The Bible celebrates sex and its proper use, presenting it as God-created, God-ordained, God-blessed. It makes plain that God himself implanted the physical magnetism between the sexes for two reasons: for the propagation of the human race, and for the expression of that kind of love between man and wife that makes for true oneness. His commandment to the first man and woman to be ‘one flesh’ was as important as his command to ‘be fruitful and multiply." 

As with all things sacred, Satan is quick to distort and destroy and today sexual impurity is rampant. We cannot go to the grocery store without being bombarded. Our children can quickly and accidentally navigate to pornographic material on our smart phones. We must constantly be on guard and be prepared to combat the evils that the adversary throws at us each day.

I am going to be married soon (59 days but whose counting? :) and I have had lots of questions about sexual intimacy. I have known all about the "don't's" before marriage but still wonder about the "yes's" after marriage. I know that it will be a way for my husband and I to become closer, I know that it is right after we are married, and I really appreciated this week's readings in my search to prepare for marriage. I hope that through these readings, my future husband and I can strengthen our own marriage and also prepare to know how to teach our children.