Your willing and enthusiastic approach to sex says “I love you” to your husband as nothing else can.
A Wives Only Wednesday Post
Today I am addressing wives on the topic of sexual surrender. I addressed husbands in my last post, and I’ll be addressing you as a couple in my next one.
If you arrived here with an interest in the “50 Shades of Grey” phenomenon, you may want to take a look at my post, Rethinking the 50 Shades of Grey Phenomenon.
For you as a wife, sexual surrender will likely take a different course than it does for your husband, but there are many corollaries. Your sexual surrender starts by understanding that your husband’s need and desire for sex is God-inspired and God-given, even though it tends to look very different from your own. He does not have the same prerequisite of emotional connection you do. In fact, his prerequisite tends to flow in the opposite direction of yours: he wants sex first, then emotional connection.
[With this post I’m addressing the 75-80% majority case in which you, as a wife, have a lower sex drive than your husband. Though many of the steps of surrender below will apply, it may also be helpful for higher-drive wives to also read the post for husbands].
Steps Toward Sexual Surrender
Your sexual surrender implies that you should work to understand and cooperate with your husband’s sexual nature rather than struggling against it.
- Don’t accuse him of being a sex-fiend just because he has a high desire for sex, or because he likes to touch and look at you in a sexually explicit manner. This is how he is made to be! Instead of rejecting him, appreciate the fact that he desires you!
- Develop or enhance your sexual nature in order to satisfy your husband’s desire for sexual intimacy. It’s not acceptable to simply say “I’m not that sexual.” Find your own way of sexual expression, but find it just the same. He needs to know you desire him sexually.
- Scripturally, the “rights” to your body belong to your husband. Likewise, you have the rights to his body. (1 Cor 7:3-4). For me, these verses speak more to mutual sexual fulfillment than to simply to the act of sex. Viewing these verses through the lens of surrender implies that you should not only strive to make your body available to your husband for sex but also do so in a way that goes beyond giving him “duty sex.” Learn to delight in delighting your husband in this way.
- Sexual surrender implies respecting your husband’s sexuality, even though it is different than your own. Because the two of you are “one flesh,” enjoy the journey of learning how you two, though very different in sexual nature, can enjoy your sexual oneness. Honor and value your husband for who God made him to be, strong sexuality and all.
- Submitting to your husband sexually has nothing to do with the dominant/submissive or master/slave lifestyle, which is a demeaning counterfeit of God’s biblical design for marriage. Sexual submission means giving yourself completely to your husband, responding to his love as Jesus desires us to respond to Him, wholeheartedly and without reservation, in an atmosphere of trust and security.
- Part of your sexual surrender includes loving your husband “as if.” While I believe he should lead the way in sexual surrender, I also believe that sometimes you need to be able to give yourself sexually even when you don’t feel the emotional connection you desire. When you are willing to give yourself to your husband “as if” you two were already emotionally fulfilled, it can lead to that becoming a reality.
Turn it Around
How would you feel if your husband said he didn’t feel like hearing about your day, holding hands or going on a date (pick your own method of emotional connection) until you had sex? You’d likely be deeply offended and more likely think he had a screw loose. But is it really that different when you make your husband jump through certain hoops before you agree to sexual intimacy? If you think about the difference in men’s and women’s wiring, it’s not really that much of a stretch to turn it around like that.
Your willing and enthusiastic approach to sex says, “I love you” to your husband as nothing else can. And as a side benefit, it is generally true that for women the more you have sex, the more you will want it.
For you, sex is a way of affirming and responding to emotional intimacy. For your husband, sex is a pathway to it.
I like the idea of, “If you think about the difference in men’s and women’s wiring, it’s not really that much of a stretch to turn it around like that.” … turn it around. Makes me think, “walk in their shoes.” Even Jesus did this for us, I wouldn’t be what I am today if Jesus didn’t “walk in my shoes” humanly speaking. He became like us, first.
Thanks, Robyn. As Christ dd, it often requires humility to step out of our comfort zone and into the shoes of another.
Great article! I have a question though. When a woman surrenders herself does that includes anything that her husband desires? for example anal sex?
Diana – thanks for your comment and your question. When it comes to exploring new ideas in the bedroom, the main element I emphasize is the importance of mutual agreement.
There are only a few things that the Bible clearly draws a line on, and those involve people outside your marriage. For the rest, “it depends” is my answer. How strongly opposed are you to the idea? Is there past trauma that could be triggered? How strongly does your spouse want to pursue the idea? While no one should ever be pushed into doing something they are set against, I also believe we need to be open to meeting each other’s needs and wants in the bedroom, even if it isn’t something we would not naturally be inclined toward. You can also pursue with your spouse if there is a “middle ground” that would be in the direction of the idea but maybe isn’t exactly what they had in mind.
Bottom line: you need to talk it through and decide together how to move forward, if at all.
Thanks so much Scott. You have answer my question wisely and to the point. God Bless You!!
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Is it a sinful act for a wife who prefers and enjoys sex with the man on her back instead of doing it from the front….PsT.Nick.
Nicholas – I find absolutely nothing in scripture that puts any restrictions on sexual positions to be enjoyed by husband and wife. Whatever works for both of you!