Just 2 more things.

I think the 2 most important things that stuck in my mind this week were: 1. The reinforcement in my mind that ANY type of pornography is bad. Photos, videos, stories…they all have the same awful affect. And 2. Sex is not only imperative to a healthy marriage, it is to be used to show our spouse how much we love and care about them.

Intimacy is well…intimate time with our spouse. And it is sometimes difficult to talk about.  It is important that we talk with our spouse, or soon to be spouse, about our expectations with intimacy. We also need to talk with our children about it. There are many ill-informed children out there. Society will tell us that sex and love have nothing to do with each other. They flaunt it on the tv commercials and the movies trailers. You can’t hardly watch tv without sex and infidelity and nonchalance about both being thrown in your face. This is what kids see “love” is. Intimacy to me is unconditional love, charity to my spouse, care and cherish each other, respect, sex, pillow talk, holding hands on the couch, a pat on the tush, or a wink across the aisle at the temple. (There is much more of course!) Sex is a gift from Heavenly Father not only to bring children into our families, but to also bring spouses closer together. There is a vulnerability with intimacy, we let down our guard and trust our spouse to care and respect that vulnerability.

Brother Goddard asks a couple of questions: Are you cultivating appreciation for sweet companionship in your marriage? Are you consciously grateful for the blessing of simple affection with your spouse?

Satan and society would lead us to believe that fidelity in marriage is a fairy tale. No one is committed and very few stay together. Sleeping with someone else is just another day in the life. Satan wants us miserable. If we are failing our spouse, our family, our sex lives, he is happy. He loves discord and disaster.

The porn industry is growing in leaps and bounds. There is really no limit on what people will produce to get our attention. It doesn’t take much. We are so blasted by images of sex and partial nudity on tv that we have become immune to the beginnings of porn. Most won’t think of it that way. It is dangerous in any genre. We have been warned by general authorities not to get involved in it. Psychologists will testify of its danger to relationships. It is unfortunately, an addiction. Just like alcohol and drugs it kills our soul. Stay away!

Healthy relationships take time and care to cultivate. Heavenly Father gave us desires to be used for good and for purpose. The natural man would have us use these desires for selfish need and want fulfillment. We are not perfect as humans, we struggle, we fall, we get back up and try harder next time.