Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – 1 Corinthians 7:1-9
Set – Job 39; 1 Corinthians 7
Go! – Job 39; 1 Corinthians 7-8
1 Corinthians 7:1-9
1 Now to the topics you raised in your last letter. Some have said, “It is better for a man to abstain from having sex with his wife.” 2 Well, I disagree. Because of our tendency to embrace immoralities, each man should feel free to join together in sexual intimacy with his own wife, and each woman should join with her own husband. 3 Husbands and wives have reciprocal duties. Each husband has the responsibility to meet his wife’s sexual desires, and each wife should do the same for her husband. 4 In marriage neither the husband nor the wife should act as if his or her body is private property—your bodies now belong to one another, and together they are whole. 5 So do not withhold sex from one another, unless both of you have agreed to devote a certain period of time to prayer. When the agreed time is over, come together again so that Satan will not tempt you when you are short on self-control. 6 I am trying to encourage you and give you some wise counsel, so don’t take this advice as a command. 7 I wish that all of you could live as I do, unmarried. But the truth is all people are different, each gifted by God in various and dissimilar ways.
8 To those who are unmarried or widowed, here’s my advice: it is a good thing to stay single as I do. 9 If they do not have self-control, they should go ahead and get married. It is much better to marry than to be obsessed by sexual urges.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
The culture of the first century was obsessed with sex. If you look at the archeological discoveries of the first century you’ll see just how obsessed those who did not follow Me were. Their markets were filled with aphrodisiacs. Their frescos depicted sexual scenes. Their statues elicited sexual excitement. Even their temples were filled with male and female prostitutes to satisfy their gods desires as they performed sexually before their altars. Orgies were part of the debachery of the wealthy’s parties. It was everywhere.
But in the middle of this mess, I sent My Son to come and give a different message. My disciples carried that message across the known world. Paul wrote about it to the Corinthians. I want My children to respect the laws of sexuality I put in place from the very beginning. I instituted the sanctity of marriage between couples. I invented sex. It’s how I meant to propagate the species. For the human race, I meant for you to enjoy the intimacy with your spouse. Satan perverted the relationship like he does so many things, though. He lies to you and tells you it’s okay to have sex outside marital relationships. It’s not. I never intended it that way.
Experimentation was never part of My plan. Partner swapping wasn’t on My mind. Extramarital affairs didn’t cross My mind. Abuse, rape, perversion, sexual relationships outside of marriage all against My chain of thought when I created man and woman and the sexual relationship between them. It was and is a special intimacy between husband and wife. Period. That’s how I designed My creation.
So listen to Paul. Don’t just think about what He says, but do it. I inspired him to write those verses to the Corinthians. Your culture isn’t much different than those in Corinth and Rome. Always looking to find ways to satisfy your base desires. Always looking for pleasure and happiness in the wrong places. Wanting instant gratification. Thinking money and things can satisfy you. Just look at your advertisements. “Sex sells,” the marketers say. And they use it generously.
Your culture mimics those of the first century in so many ways. Listen to Paul and take heed of what he says. It will save you a lot of heartache. It will salvage relationships. It will help your marriage and teach your children respect for the opposite sex. Listen to him and do what he suggests. They are My words he writes, after all.
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