Don’t turn out the lights.

I’ll never forget the moment I heard the Lord whisper those words as I entered our bedroom to have sex with my husband. I already hated being naked in front of him but I took comfort in the lights out so he couldn’t see my imperfections.

I argued with God for a moment as I looked down at my sagging boobs, stretched marked stomach and extra ten pounds I just couldn’t seem to shake off no matter how hard I tried.

The truth is this wasn’t the first night the Lord whispered those words to me but I always ignored him. But for some reason this night I decided to listen. I put on my brave face and kept on the lights and bared it all for my husband to see.

I will spare you the details but let’s just say my husband welcomed my visibly naked body with open arms.

God taught me a few things that night about my body, shame and sex in marriage.

God created man to lust after the woman and the woman to crave the lust of man. But that lust was never meant to be from multiple places, rather, it was meant to be directed at each other.

Eve was created from Adam’s rib thus, as women, we will always crave returning to man. This craving to return to man is healthy when it is our man.

But when sin entered shame came with it and Eve became aware of her imperfections.

In that sin, Eve decided to hide from Adam, and in came the cycle of man longing to see his wife naked and the wife hiding from her husband out of shame. Yet woman has this strong desire to be seen and known by man so in the hiding she now has an unmet need.

To my darling wives reading this, it’s time to release shame about how you feel about your body and let your husband in. He has a longing that only you can fill. He craves to see you in the nude, just as God intended in the garden.

This opening up of our body to our husband will break the cycle of misplaced lust and will set us free in the area of distorted body image.

No matter your shape, size or color, your body is a gift from God to your husband and his embrace is a gift to you.

It’s time to turn on the light in this area of your heart to release shame and receive God’s original design for sex.

In this with you,

Rachael Joy

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