XO Publishing - 7 Days to a Naked Marriage Husbands Edition

Copyright 2021 by XO Publishing.

Published with content from:

7 Days to a Stronger Marriage - Husbands Version and Wifes Version

2018 by Dave and Ashley Willis. Used with permission of Dave and Ashley Willis.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by

any means without written permission from the publisher, except brief passages

for purposes of reviews. For information address: XO Marriage.

ISBN: 978-1-950113-40-8 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-950113-42-2 (eBook)

P.O. Box 59888 Dallas, Texas 75229

1-800-380-6330

or visit our website at www.xomarriage.com

XO Publishing

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

NLTScripture taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004,

2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a

Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or any otherwithout prior permission from the publisher.

XO Publishing has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy or URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Introduction

During our premarital counseling, our pastor opened his Bible and read this verse: A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12, NLT). Until that moment, we honestly never thought much about this verse, but after one of our sessions, our pastor gave us a rather unusual wedding gift. He handed us a real triple-braided cord.

He then explained that the verse illustrated a strong marriage in which the husband, wife, and God each represent a strand of the cord, with God being the heartiest strand. This kind of cord is hard to break and extremely secure, but the cord is only as strong as each strand. If one strand is weakened or cut off, the cord loses some of its strength. With enough weight it will eventually fray or break down completely.

The longer we are married and work with married couples, the more we see the truth of this verse played out. We are not sure where you might be in your faith, but we encourage you to keep God at the center of your marriage. So, how do we keep God as the primary strand in our marriage? We do this by making our personal relationship with Christ a priority. We strive to know Him more by going to church and reading our Bibles, and we make prayer a consistent part of our daily lives. When we keep our relationship with God as our top priority, our minds and hearts are more prepared to approach our spouse with the love and devotion he or she deserves, and we essentially keep our strands connected to the master strand. When this happens, our cords of marriage remain strong.

God painted this picture in the very first marriage He created between two human beingsthe marriage of Adam and Eve. In Genesis 2, we learn that God created Adam and then Eve. They were unified with Godlike that cord of three strandsand they were also naked and unashamed. When God created this naked marriage , He was revealing to us something more than just sexual intimacy; He was showing the importance of having complete transparency, vulnerability, acceptance, and intimacy at every level of the relationship . Were certainly not advocating that we all walk around naked all day (although we do think most marriages would benefit from more naked-time), but we are suggesting that we all need to become more intentional about reconnecting with the true intimacy Adam and Eve got a taste of in the Garden of Eden. Love, in marriage, has to be completely open, honest, and transparent. Secrets are as dangerous as lies and can rob your relationship of intimacy and trust. Love, by its very nature, is honest, and this is especially important to the sacred bond of trust in marriage.

Through our years together and the different seasons of our marriage and family, our love has grown deeper and richer. Weve also gained a fuller understanding of what marriage really means. Its not something that can be defined by feelings or captured by words alone. God created marriage to be a transformative force in every aspect of our lives, and once we understand and embrace it, our marriage will come into clearer focus and will grow in deeper levels of intimacy, and vulnerability.

It is our hope and prayer you and your spouse experience this same growing intimacy and vulnerability. Better yet, God desires it for you. Thats the heart of what a naked marriage is all about. Our podcast and our most popular book are both called The Naked Marriage because we believe every couple is meant to experience the physical, emotional, and spiritual intimacy Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden of Eden before sin entered the picture. The first couples nakedness was a picture of Gods design for a marriage without secrets, masks, or barriers between a husband and wife. Thats still Gods plan for marriage today. Thats His plan for you.

In this devotional addition to our original Naked Marriage book and podcast, weve taken the principles, Scriptures, and stories weve shared in the past and reimagined them in a new format. Weve also built on a previous book series called 7 Days to a Stronger Marriage , which unpacked the marriage vows as the foundation for a strong, lifelong relationship. This new devotional series takes the best of what weve shared in these previous books plus some brand-new content to help you build on your marriage vows to live in a vibrant, transparent, passionate, naked marriage .

We believe this seven-day journey could become one of the most significant weeks in the history of your love story. It could also be a mountaintop moment in your walk with Jesus Christ. We are praying for you and your spouse as you begin the journey. If youll give this week your full effort, we believe these next seven days could have a permanent impact on your marriage!

How it Works

This book contains seven chapters that are meant to be read one chapter per day over the course of the next seven days. Each chapter takes one specific promise from the traditional marriage vows and explores its meaning and implications in detail. After the daily reading, there will be an activity assignment for you to do based on the reading, along with a journaling section where you can record your thoughts, prayers, and new ideas throughout the process. The final activity at the end of Day Seven will incorporate each of the vows and give you a creative way to renew your vows to your wife.

There are no specific rules for what this experience has to look like for you and your wife because we want you to have the freedom and creativity to customize the seven-day experience however works best for you. To get the most out it, we suggest prioritizing daily time to finish the days reading and taking time to do each days activity. Then we hope youll make two different commitments. First, commit to praying for your marriage each day. Then, commit to being encouraging, to giving your best effort, and to approach the process without criticism.