of passion and sex for pleasure. Song of Solomon is so detailed in its
intention of sexual pleasure in marriage that allegories were used to
tone it down and Hebrew boys couldn't read it until they were 12, when
they became men. God clearly intended sex in marriage to be
pleasurable.
First Corinthians 7:3-5 talks about not abstaining from sex in
marriage: "But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own
wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. The husband is to
fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her
husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the
husband does, and likewise also the husband does not have authority
over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another,
except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to
prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you
because of your lack of self-control."
The feelings of sexual longings and pleasure during sex were created
by God, and marriage was created to fulfill those longings. What Paul
is saying is to direct those feelings to your spouse and no other and
make sure that they are fulfilled within your marriage relationship,
not outside of it. Notice that Paul says if one of the partners is not
living up to his or her spouse's expectations, whether it be pleasure
or time, then both need to bring it before God so that one doesn't try
to find fulfillment outside of that marriage relationship. Because of
the existence of pornography and the perversion of sex over the years,
many people (especially Christians) get the idea that sex for pleasure
is wrong. We sometimes forget that God fashioned us for sex and
created the emotions to go with it; pleasure was intended. We
shouldn't let Satan and his lies keep us from enjoying our spouses or
fall into the counterfeit pleasure of sex that the world offers. God's
pleasure is real and satisfying; Satan's is counterfeit and empty.
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