Genesis 2:24-25 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
They started out with no barriers to intimacy. There was no fear, no negative patterns, and what must have been an incredible and fun intimacy. This ended when they sinned, and covered themselves.
Genesis 3:7-8 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves... and they hid from the LORD.
They hid from each other and they hid from God. What had been great intimacy was shattered. Adam's response:
Genesis 3:10 "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
At the core, we are all imperfect people who, like Adam and Eve, seek closeness and acceptance. This desire for relationship was built in by God before sin even entered the picture. But out of fear (a result of sin and the fall), we tend to cover ourselves and make barriers in our relationships.
Relationships, especially marriages at times, are all to often not safe for intimacy. We get afraid, and we let our fears impair our ability to love fully. We cover up and the relationship in marriage suffers. But scripture points to the antidote to such fear, LOVE.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, ...
Put your love in action in such a way as to keep the avenues of intimacy open in marriage. Work with God's strength and wisdom to overcome the tendency to build barriers in marriage. God designed marriage for great blessing--oneness in all its mystery and promise!
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