Before you’re married it’s easy to see marriage as the grande finale. It’s the thing we dream of and live for. It’s the force propelling us forward into this destination we call life. And then it finally comes! Now what?
Our sex drive allows us to connect with our spouse and create a bond for life. It’s the glue that seals together. As much as we’d like to think we’re rubber and people can just bounce off of us, the reality is that when we have sexual encounters, we’re being glued together.
We realized that we couldn’t expect our children to express what made them uncomfortable or scared if we didn’t teach them to understand and express a broad range of feelings, especially the uncomfortable and difficult ones. Our hope is that as we create space throughout our days to talk about difficult feelings, our children will be able to more easily verbalize instances where someone makes them feel unsafe or touches them inappropriately.
Friends- do not keep this in the dark anymore. Go tell someone! The enemy wants us to believe that we should be embarrassed or shameful but thats not truth. The Lord died on the cross for ALL of our sins. Not just some - ALL. This is a normal thing women go through - don't let the enemy tell you that you are the only one. I would encourage you to find someone to keep you accountable in this. When you feel temptation coming... text or call them.
When it comes to being a safe place, healthy communication is essential. Refuse to engage in disrespectful conversations. Bravely step into vulnerable conversations where you show the person your heart and invite an exchange of truth. Listen well, seek to understand them, identify what they are needing, and help to meet that need.
In a recent survey I conducted, one of the top 3 ways currently married people found their partner was thanks to the world of online dating websites and apps. All this to say, people are using online platforms more than ever before, and with the stay at home orders, the online dating world has seen an increase in numbers of people.
As a child, you were creating habits and building these connections at a faster and stronger rate than at any other point in your life. So, the earlier and more frequently you experience things like porn, abuse, and sexuality, the more these things feel like they are part of you.
For many partners, finding out their significant other has secretly watched porn can feel just they discovered they’ve been cheated on. For some other partners, they may feel upset but not betrayed. And still, for others, they may not be bothered at all by their partner’s porn habit.
If you’re struggling to build success in your life, find yourself surrounded by small-minded people, or feel like the community you’ve cultivated fails to bring about the best in you, I want to challenge your perspective on friendships today! In fact, I believe this key is so powerful that it can unlock, activate and propel you into greater kingdom impact in every area of your life!
Churches are becoming afraid to offer us support since any approach suggesting emotional healing or restoration in one’s sexuality could be called “conversion therapy,” or worse, anti-LGBTQ hate. We Christians who have experienced LGBTQ, whether openly gay or closeted in our churches, wrestle with our public response to Christ. The uproar over so-called “conversion therapy” reveals the painful challenge of that pursuit.
