Spice Up Your Marriage

There is an insidious idea floating around that porn is a good way to spice up your marriage.

In the past this would have been less tempting, but the internet has changed all that. 

Like I said, it’s an insidious idea.  And the word insidious describes it perfectly, “beguiling, but harmful.”

I just read the story of a couple, and one day the husband suggested they spice up their marriage by looking at porn.  She was reluctant, but she was also curious.  So they did, and wow!  It really spiced things up…very briefly.

It created an almost immediate wedge in their marriage, driving them apart, not together.

I wish I could say that they worked it all out and everything is okay now.  But that’s not the way it went.  The story to date is that their marriage is barely holding together. 

Porn will spice up your marriage like crack cocaine will spice up your kid’s birthday party.

Here is another horrible way to spice up your marriage – by making your spouse jealous.  Again, it might provide an immediate boost of attention, a little thrill, the “high” of power, but it’s faulty wiring.  You might start a fire you can’t put out. 

Another terrible way to try to spice up your marriage is by cultivating a little relationship on the side.  Yes, it may give you a quick high, and you may take the good feelings home with you.  But the high is so short and the damage so swift, only a fool would think it beneficial. 

Some people try to spice up their marriage by reading racy novels.  “It puts me in the mood,” they say.  But again, it’s faulty wiring.  The lights go on, but something is starting to smell. 

“So, Doug, what can I do to spice up my marriage?”

Here’s what you do.  Go back to the Maker of marriage.  God had a perfect plan when He created Adam and Eve for one another.  Yes, our broken world has also broken marriage, but God’s plan is still best. 

So start by going to Him in prayer.  Pray for your marriage and your spouse everyday. 

The best way to spice up your marriage is with extra helpings of true love.  Go back to First Corinthians 13 and apply it to your marriage. 

One perceived drawback to this plan is that it doesn’t provide that quick high.  Maybe not, but it builds on a solid, true foundation.  And on this foundation your marriage will just get better and better as the years go by. 

I like what it says in Proverbs 10:22, that the blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow to it. 

See, these other schemes to spice up your marriage – sure, they may add some spice in the short run, but then they add sorrow. 

But the blessing of the Lord makes for a rich marriage – and adds no sorrow to it.

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dougapple@wave94.com