Bible in One Year: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 (Rev 19 - Rev 22) Memorise: "Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband" (1 Cor 7:2) Read: 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. 4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. 5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. Hebrews 13:4 says marriage is an honourable thing. Some believers still see sex as something unclean, unholy and carnal. No! Copulation with your partner after marriage is of God and therefore holy. In Genesis 1:28, God blessed Adam and Eve and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply. If a believing couple copulates in an attitude of wanting to fulfil God's command in that scripture, love making becomes an act of faith. In 1 Corinthians 7:2, you are only allowed to be sexually intimate with your lawfully wedded spouse. A look at 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 reveals certain indelible truths. A husband and his wife are mutually indebted to each other and must therefore pay their dues as it regards marriage. Also, the husband's body belongs to his wife and the wife's body belongs to her husband. This means that each partner has every right in determining how the spouse should look, dress or be used as long as they do not violate the super will of the One who created their bodies. If the man owns his wife's body, and the woman owns her husband's body, it therefore follows that neither of them has any right to refuse when either of them needs the other's body. This is why verse 5 describes refusal to yield one's body to one's spouse as fraudulent. It amounts to partner robbery and it is sin. In several marriages, this fraudulent practice has been the source of most foundational problems. Under no circumstance does the scripture permit a woman or man to refuse to yield his or her body to the spouse, except during a period set aside for fasting and prayer. Do you know some men or women deliberately decide to fast, not because they needed to, but in order to have an excuse for not copulating with their spouse? This is still a fraud. Before you can keep love making aside, there must be mutual consent. Without this consent, the erring partner is seen by Heaven as a fraud. Even when there is mutual consent, the fasting period should not be so long that you subject your partner to temptation, hence you should always consider your partner. Each time you deny your partner your body, you rob yourselves of the opportunity to become one. If you have been defrauding your partner, repent and restitute to the fellow. ACTION POINT: When defrauded by a stranger, it does not hurt as much as when someone close is the fraudster. Marital fraud is internal and hurtful.