Research Paper
Topic, Preliminary Research and Rationale
For this assignment, I have chosen to breakdown some of the basic issues that cause a lack of intimacy and sex with marriages. I also intend to use proven counseling methods to help Christian counselors battle this issue within married couples. The title of the paper will be: The Necessity for Sexual Intimacy in Marriage. From pastoral experience, counseling married couples having difficulties in their marriage usually stems from a lack of intimacy. Both husband and wife for various reasons have drawn away from affection, intimacy and sex. There is great value in this information because once the issue of intimacy is explained and resolved. Couples usually go on to live productive marriages, fulfilling God’s design for husband and wife.
Several Studies (including The Barna Group, 2006) have shown that a lack of sexual intimacy in marriages can and have resulted in many couple choosing divorce their spouses rather than fix this common issue. The Barna Group asserts that “no moral dimension has changed as much as Americans’ perspectives and behaviors related to sexuality” (2006). This has happened in part by the increase in sexual diversity and immorality. Not surprisingly, Pornography lists high on the list of causes of a lack of sexual desire from many husbands (2006).
In the book Why you do the things you do: secrets to healthy relationships; Timothy Clinton and Gary Sibcy assert that the key to a loving, lasting marriage is staying emotionally connected (2006). For the Christian counselor, there are few things more complex than wading through these troublesome waters of relationships.
There is and always have been a biblical perspective concerning human sexuality (Gostecnik, 2007). This means that God is intricately involved in the intimacy of the marriage relationship. Sex in marriage plays a very