Intimacy in Marriage

The Enjoyment of the Harvest

A CLOSE, FAMILIAR, AND USUALLY AFFECTIONATE OR LOVING PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH ANOTHER PERSON OR GROUP. intimacy

Genesis 2:24-25 “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”

Genesis 2:24-25 “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”

Genesis 2:24-25 “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”

Marriage and family researchers Schaefer and Olson describe attaining intimacy as: “a process that occurs over time and is never completed or fully accomplished.”

Sexual Intimacy

Sexual Emotional Intellectual Spiritual Intimacy

Song of Solomon 4:9 – 5:1

4:9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. 10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice! 11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue.

The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon. 12 You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain. 13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, 14 nard and affron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices. 15 You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.

16 Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad. Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits. 5:1 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk.

1 Corinthians 7:3-5 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.

5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

Emotional Intimacy the closeness created through sharing feelings.

Intellectual Intimacy involves the ability to convey what you are thinking to your partner, confident that whatever you say or think will be valued.

Spiritual Intimacy involves sharing religious beliefs and observing religious practices together, such as praying and attending church.

Sexual Intimacy is one of the most important dimensions of healthy marital intimacy.

Characteristics of Intimacy Mutual trust Tenderness Acceptance Open communication Caring Apologies Forgiveness

GOD DESIGNED SEX FOR MARRIAGE; HE DESIGNED IT SO HUSBAND AND WIFE COULD REACH A LEVEL OF INTIMACY (EMOTIONAL, INTELLECTUAL, SPIRITUAL, AND SEXUAL) THAT WOULD BE ALMOST HEAVENLY! -Jim Gordon