Honoring the Marriage Bed

We live in a culture that hates sex. Our culture disdains this good gift of God in many different ways. But they do this most insistently in how they present what a woman is to be. The world invites women to dress like prostitutes, and it makes fun of those who seek to protect their wives and daughters and sisters. The world presents one night stands as normal, exciting, and fulfilling. Television, movies, and magazines present men and women who are barely clothed hanging out as though they were happy, as though they were having fun. But these are all lies and slanders. All of these treat women as objects to be used and sex as a mindless fling.

Sex is a good gift of God, but it was given to be enjoyed in the context of marriage. God gives beauty and loveliness to women not to be cheaply displayed: hawking wares as though their bodies were some kind of cheap, drug store trinket. The Scriptures exhort every husband to cherish his wife, and to rejoice in the wife of his youth, and Solomon says; let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Men, no other woman’s breasts are your business. Women, your beauty is for your husband and not to be sold for attention or security. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit; it is claimed by the Word of God. It is for his service and his glory.

As Christians we are called by God to hate the slanders of our culture. Every skanky picture in the mall is an affront to Christian marriage. Every cheap, lust-filled date mocks and dishonors the marriage bed which has been sanctified by God. As Christians we are called to honor the marriage bed. And we must teach our children these things.