Watch the video above and talk about it with a group or mentor. Learn more.

Sex is a gift from God and it needs to be nurtured and cared for in your marriage.

Key Points:

  • Couples should be aware of any sexual trauma that a spouse is carrying into the relationship.
  • Sex is God’s gift to a married couple and should be enjoyed as a gift
  • If a spouse sees sex as unappetizing, that spouse should work to find healing and achieve intimacy. 
  • There is 1 biblical reason – 1 Corinthians 7:5 – to withhold sex from each other for a limited season and it’s about spending time in prayer.
  • Sex shouldn’t be optional in marriage. If one spouse has a tough history with sex due to injury or abuse, take the time to get help and to work through it as a couple. Serve one another and do what it takes to make sex a healthy part of your marriage. 

Quote This:

1 Corinthians 7:5 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.

Talk About It
  1. What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
  2. Are you currently in a sexless relationship? If so, have you and your spouse discussed the reasons why sex is unwanted?
  3. Have you had seasons in your marriage when you had a more active sex life? Explain.
  4. Read 1 Corinthians 7:3-4. This command doesn’t give a spouse the right to abuse or demand of the other spouse. What do you think this passage means? How does this scripture describe the serving relationship of an intimate marriage?
  5. Does your sexlessness fall within the guidelines that Paul gives in the above passage?
  6. What active steps are you taking to achieve full intimacy with your spouse?
  7. Read Ephesians 5:21-33. What is the ultimate reason for marriage? Can this reason be fulfilled if sexual intimacy is impossible for one or both spouses?
  8. Write a personal action step based on this conversation.