BEFORE YOU SAY "I DO"
The Mystery of Intimacy in Marriage
Article by Dr. Tunishai Ford
When the average person thinks about intimacy, they imagine two people coming together for sexual fulfillment. In fact, that is how the term is often defined. When I decided to do this article on intimacy, with the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I received a profound revelation from God. He told me that physical and sexual contact is the lowest form of intimacy and the most carnal. Although God did create sex to be pleasurable between a man and woman, it is often practiced out of context. Therefore, intimacy becomes a frivolous form of communication between the two genders.
Intimacy is most needed amongst mankind today yet is often not practiced because of the misdirection and misconception in the meaning of love. Many people are illegitimately practicing intimacy in ungodly connections or soul ties. These relationships are based solely on lustful and selfish desires, especially if the connections are outside the marriage
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covenant. I recall stating in a previous issue that marriage legitimizes sex, and it also legitimizes intimacy. Let's examine exactly what intimacy is and all of its components.
Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers, God will judge (Hebrews 13:4, NASB).
Intimacy is when two souls are intertwined, and they are incomplete without the other. This is actually the relationship between a husband and wife, and the relationship that God describes
"Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled;...."