At least not in the sense of being a material object. But we think about it like it’s a thing, don’t we?
Consider that sex is something people purchase, sell, or use to sell other things. It’s seen as a need, a right, a past-time, or an obsession. It’s used to try to relieve stress, keep a relationship going, or prove something. People crave it, pursue it, run from it, or worship it.
Marriage is no antidote. We’ve heard from many a wife who feels her husband’s primary objective in the bedroom is not closeness with her, but the pleasure he gets from sex. On some level, it’s as though she’s just one of many things he could use.
Whether married, single, man, or woman, most of us can relate with thinking or treating sex like a thing, like an entity unto itself.
But what if we didn’t?
What if we thought about and treated sex not as a thing unto itself, but as a form of love between a husband and wife?
To put this in context, consider other forms of love: listening, writing a note, saying a word of affirmation, sharing with those in need, extending patience, treating with kindness, assuming the best about someone, caring for people when they’re at their worst.
What if we thought about sex along the same lines as we think of these forms of love? How life-giving would that be?
And what if we treated sex as a uniquely powerful, special, and sacred version of these because of its capacity, unlike any other expression of love, to produce a new life, to bring a new person into the world to love?
If we thought about and treated sex this way, it could radically change our world.
Jesus didn’t come to squelch sexual desire. He didn’t come to make us asexual or to sap the pleasure from sex. He has more for us, not less. He came to redeem sexuality, to restore its goodness and beauty.
Invite him to do so. Let’s change the world.
“Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled,” (Hebrews 13:4a).
Question: Do you resonate with the idea that the world treats sex more like a thing than a sacred form of love? Why or why not?
Ready for a change,
Josh
***This article was originally written by Josh Glaser for Regeneration Ministries***