No shame

When I look at this passage, I’m struck by the goodness of God. How as he created man, he took such care to provide for him.

He plants a garden with trees that he made sure were good for food and not only that, but pleasing to the eye as well. He also gives him pleasant work to do within the garden.

Then, perhaps even before the man realized his own need, God realized that the man needed a companion, one who would be “just right” (NLT) for him. So God created Eve.

And the reaction by Adam is instantaneous. “WOW! This is what I’ve been looking for. This is the one for me!”

And the Bible says that both were naked, but not ashamed. (Genesis 2:25)

That’s what marriage should be. Complete nakedness. I’m not just talking about sex. But nakedness of the soul. And complete acceptance. Knowing each part of the other person, and accepting them, and even celebrating who they are.

How many marriages fail because they lack this. All of us long to know and to be known. And be accepted.

The ability to laugh. To play. To share. To be intimate. How much has the thief of John 10:10 taken away from what marriage is? And all because we refuse to bare our souls completely to each other because we’re too afraid of rejection.

Maybe we’ve already suffered the scars of rejection and that prevents us from trying again.

But as we turn to the Author of Life, as we learn about his unconditional acceptance of us and find his healing.

And as we learn how to accept the people around us as he does, he is able to breathe new life into our dead marriages and relationships and make them as they were in the beginning: naked, but not ashamed.