Naked and Unashamed

“And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” ~ Genesis 2:25

Have you allowed shame and guilt to create disunity in your marriage?  Are you allowing the Lord to enter into every area of your life and work?  Are you cultivating a lifestyle of transparency and oneness with your mate?

The first few chapters of Genesis give us insight into the foundation of marriage and how it relates to work.  In the beginning, God creates man, and gives him the responsibility of stewardship in the garden: “Then the Lord GOD took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.”  He then declares that it is not good that Adam is alone – work and stewardship of the garden is not enough, and does not make Adam complete:

And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him”… And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. ~Genesis 2:18-25, NKJV

The Genesis story shows us that God’s design for life is based on the foundation of intimate relationship in complete unity – a husband and wife, naked and unashamed.  In the next chapter in Genesis, we see Adam and Eve going against God’s commandments and eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  When sin entered the world, it brought shame and guilt, tearing the fellowship that Adam and Eve had with each other and with God.  Shame and guilt follow their disobedience, and we find Adam and Eve covering themselves, hiding among the trees:

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” ~Genesis 3:8-10, NKJV

What trees are you hiding behind today?  We can hide from one another in marriage and we can hide from God.  Even work and ministry can become a tree we hide behind, allowing the guise of “holy” productivity to be first in our lives, instead of our fellowship with God and our spouse.  The world tells us that allowing work to consume our lives will bring us money and thus satisfaction and happiness, but God’s Word tells us that unity in relationships is where life is found (Psalm 133:1-3). 

God calls you to come out of hiding and into His presence!  He wants to restore your fellowship with Him and to restore your fellowship with your spouse.  Holding on to shame and guilt, and not allowing God to bring restoration through the sanctifying power of the blood of Jesus Christ, can result in an unstable marriage and divorce, which hinders God from blessing your life and work.  Marriage is designed to be a reflection of God’s image and likeness, and when we walk in disunity we fail to live as a testimony to Jesus’s love (John 17:23). 

What can you do to come out of hiding and begin to cultivate transparency in your marriage?

1. Accept that you are both imperfect.
2. Repent if necessary.
3. Take responsibility and stop blaming each other.
4. Overcome shame and guilt.  Ask the Lord to show you both areas where shame and guilt exists.
5. Release past hurts, giving them to the Lord.
6. Forgive yourself and each other. Husbands, if you have unforgiveness that you haven’t dealt with, God’s Word tells us that your prayers can be hindered! (1 Peter 3:7).
7. Stop condemning yourself.  There is no condemnation for believers in Jesus! (Romans 8:1).

My prayer for you today is to once again walk naked and unashamed, together as husband and wife, and with our Lord Jesus Christ.