018 | Why Intimacy Goes Beyond the Bedroom

2025-03-25

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When we use the word "intimacy," our culture (and even our churches) have conditioned us to think of what happens in the bedroom, of sexual intimacy. While sexual intimacy is an integral part of marriage, it is not the full picture of what God has created us for and invited us into. There is so much more to intimacy and today's episode is meant to get the conversation going on what intimacy in marriage can look like beyond the bedroom. According to Eric Erickson, intimacy is the potential someone has for connectedness and it hinges ...

When we use the word "intimacy," our culture (and even our churches) have conditioned us to think of what happens in the bedroom, of sexual intimacy.

While sexual intimacy is an integral part of marriage, it is not the full picture of what God has created us for and invited us into. There is so much more to intimacy and today's episode is meant to get the conversation going on what intimacy in marriage can look like beyond the bedroom.

According to Eric Erickson, intimacy is the potential someone has for connectedness and it hinges on 3 things:

Commitment
Vulnerability
Communication

Two important questions we ask about intimacy in marriage:

Is it safe to love?
Is it safe to be loved?

Resources:

This is a bit of a technical paper (but still very approachable) and is a good look at Erickson's ideas on intimacy:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2733523/#:~:text=As%20such%2C%20Erikson%20emphasized%20three,communicate%20inner%20thoughts%20and%20feelings.

A link to Henri Nouwen's essays on Intimacy:

https://archive.org/details/intimacyessaysin0000nouw

Have questions or need prayer? Get in touch with us: info@livingmarriages.com

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