HOME THERAPY SERIES: THE LAW OF NAKEDNESS

"And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed" (Genesis 2:25). 

Today's Scripture verse points us to another vital key that will put joy in our marriages. I call it the law of nakedness. Nakedness implies transparency, openness, sincerity, sensitivity and vulnerability. When you keep the law of nakedness, you will keep yourself away from shame, for "they were both naked, the man and his wife, and [Consequently] were not ashamed". 

Applying the law of nakedness will engender trust in marriage. If spouses are transparent and open to one another, it becomes so easy to mutually trust each other. Of course, we are not talking about being careless with official information which professional ethics forbids. But where the husband hides things about his life from the wife, and the wife also have things that the husband does not know about, even the best of intentions would be misjudged. 

I know of cases where the husband has properties that the wife knows nothing about. I also know of cases where the wife built houses without the knowledge of the husband. I am aware that there could be several reasons (some of which might be very cogent) responsible for such scenarios painted above. But the God who made marriage in the beginning never designed it to be like that. Nothing short of a return to the original design will shield us from marital shame and deliver domestic fulfilment.

I know that there will be some occasions when for reasons of expediency spouses may need to withhold certain information from one another for a season. A relevant example would be when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. We did not read that Abraham shared what he was about to do with his wife Sarah, for very obvious reasons. But when you look at the story of Abraham and Sarah, you will agree that this incident was not the default pattern of relationship between the couple. 

So I urge couples to break down the barriers and be open to each other. If we practice physical nakedness to stay together as husband and wife, let us go the whole length and be transparent in all we do. I suppose that if you trust yourselves enough to commit your lives to one another in marriage till death do you part, you should also trust yourselves enough to be open one to another.