Naked and not Ashamed

Love can be hurt by sex. It can be killed by sex. Therefore, love has to be protected.

There is a verse in the Bible which has not yet received due attention in this respect. It is Genesis 2:25: “They were both naked, the man and the wife, and were not ashamed.”

Naked and not ashamed.

“Naked” is not meant here in a physical sense only. It means to stand in front of each other stripped and undisguised, without pretention, without hiding anything, seeing the partner as he really is and showing myself to him as I really am – and still not to be ashamed.

Naked and not ashamed.

But this ultimate goal of mature love is promised only to those who, as the previous verse says, have left father and mother and cleave to each other, in other words, those who have been publicly and legally married.

These two – not the ones before or outside of marriage – become one flesh

These two – not the ones before or outside of marriage – shall succeed in the tremendously difficult task: to face each other as they really are, to live with each other – naked an yet not ashamed.

Naked and not ashamed – this is what the Bible means by the word “to know”. “Adam knew Eve, his wife.”

To know in this way is not possible outside of marriage. If it is tried beforehand, love is hurt or even killed.

Therefore, love has not only to be learned; it has to be protected as well.

It has to be protected by divine will. By listening to human reason we cannot protect love…love has to be protected by the One who is love Himself. There is never a contradiction between love and divine will. There is no action of love which goes against a commandment of God.

Excerpt from
Love is a Feeling to be Learned
by Walter Trobisch

Does the Family Have a Future?

Thirty years ago, I heard an address by Dr. Paul Popenoe, pioneer of Christian marriage counseling in the United States, who said, “The future of the family is the future of the world.” Though culture and world situations may change, the family still remains the foundations of our society. Does it still have a future?

I know that sickness is often contagious, but I believe that health is also contagious. Our purpose is not to battle disease, but to spread good health, helping good marriages to become better. Every healthy marriage is like a knot in that great net, which helps people to find Christ. Family Life Mission is at work in 16 African countries. I think of the many couples there who are witnesses that one healthy couple can change a whole village. That same is true in Europe and America.

In 1979, Walter and I made our last mission trip together. We were invited to speak at a Family Life Conference in Indonesia where 2000 Christians were gathered for one week to talk about the future of the family. It was the first time that we met followers of Islam who had become Christians. When we asked them why they had become Chrsitians, they replied, “It is because we see how the Christian families in our neighborhoods live in peace. Husbands and wives do not fight. Parents are kind to their children. We want to live like that. Walter often said, “The best landing place for the Gospel is the family and its needs.”

Roland Bainton, noted Luther scholar, says “One effect of the Reformation was to eliminate the monastery.” The home became its functional substitute where “the gentler virtues of the Sermon on the Mount” could be practiced. If monks wanted to earn their way to heaven, Luther once observed, the home would be a better place to do it: it offered more difficulties.

The “sacramental”aspect of the marriage emphasizing the lifelong relationship is at a low ebb today, Bainton observes. While romance and companionship are valid elements in a marriage, they are unstable. If the romance and common interest ceases, the marriage may also. “The wine goes out, only the water is left. Christ does not take away the vexations in marriage, but he does turn the water into wine.”

I believe the family does have a future!

-Ingrid Trobisch Youngdale
taken from correspondance March 2007