Naked and Unashamed
A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:24,25
When in elementary school, I had a recurring dream in which I was sitting at my desk when I looked down and realized I was wearing only my underwear. Naked, my defects and flaws were exposed for all my classmates to see. It was a horrifying dream, based on my own insecurities and faults.
When I read about the idyllic state of the garden of Eden then, I am a little uncomfortable. Poison ivy, thorns and nakedness seem to be a bad combination to me. This was before the fall though, so pain and poison were nonexistent. Likewise, Adam and Eve lived in perfect communion with God and each other and had nothing to hide. They were naked and they were unashamed as they had no destructive behavior between them.
I will never achieve the perfection of the garden, but that does not mean I should not strive for the ideal of a loving marriage. I am not talking about becoming a nudist. I am talking about loving my wife the way God intended. I am talking about loving my wife as much as I love myself (Ephesians 5:28).
When I hold my wife’s interests as my own, I act in such a way that brings me no shame or guilt. It is only when I pursue me, that I selfishly behave in such a way that makes me want to wear a facade. In my pride, I hide my motives behind justifications and excuses. In my ongoing addiction to me, I fear the shame of being exposed and try to dress it up as something else.
When I love my wife as myself though, I have nothing to hide. When I live right, I can live naked (metaphorically) and unashamed before God and my wife. It is only in my pursuit of me that I engage in behavior that I want to cover up.
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I find this quite timely and pertinent to my life. I struggle so hard to be adequate in mind. The word “insecurities” hits the nail on the head for me. Last night I was reading Genesis 15 and Luke 6, the Holy Spirit showed me my error in where I was placing my trust – in my circumstances and emotions rather than Christ. I am turning it over to God, and battling my personal sense of insecurities to keep it in His hands rather tan my own.
That is an everyday battle for all of us (unless we just give up). In jail this morning, one of the guys spoke of the constant battle not to allow his circumstances (years of incarceration) to determine his focus or mindset. It is a choice he has to make a hundred times a day, to focus on his reality in Christ, while living in a difficult situation.