Glossary Term: Trust

Definition: "Trust, within the context of a marital relationship, refers to the unwavering belief in a spouse's honesty, integrity, reliability, and loyalty, nurtured through open communication and consistent actions over time."

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Does Masturbation Help or Hurt Your Marriage? Here’s What the Data Says

Illustration of a married couple holding hands while looking at two charts comparing solo behavior decreasing and shared intimacy increasing, with the headline “Does Masturbation Help or Hurt Your Marriage? Here’s What the Data Says.”

Nearly a year ago someone suggested I redo my 2014 survey on mutual masturbation. I did, and I expanded it considerably. What I got back from 1,043 married Christians was more interesting than I expected. Some of it confirmed what I thought going in. Some of it didn’t. And one pattern in particular showed up so consistently across so many different cuts of the data that I had a hard time writing around it.
That pattern is what this post is about.

SWM 150 – Control, sex and marriage

Last month, I watched a great video by Gary Thomas and his wife Lisa on how a controlling spirit can harm a marriage. It got me thinking: In Christian circles, we often struggle to define the difference between healthy leadership and damaging control—both in marriage and in our relationship with God.

Why is it that surrendering to God is seen as good, but demanding control from a spouse is harmful? The key, I believe, is consent and love. When surrender is freely given and motivated by love, it can bring freedom and joy. But when control is forced, it leads to resentment and broken trust.

In this post, I’m sharing some personal stories and lessons we’ve learned about navigating these tricky dynamics in marriage.

SWM 135 – It’s good to try new things

Most kids, when growing up, enter a picky stage at some point.  Some when they’re toddlers, some when they’re young children, some when they become teenagers.  When our 3rd or 4th kid entered this phase, everyone knew the response when they didn’t want to eat something new that we’d made.  “It’s good to try new things.”  They didn’t have to eat it all but had to try it—a decent try, not a touch to the tongue followed by an exaggerated exclamation of disgust.

Teaching children to at least give something new a fair shot, I think, has applications later on in life as well. I often talk to husbands and wives whose spouses simply will not try anything new in the bedroom. One will bring up an idea, and it’s immediately shot down by the “picky” spouse—the one who is perfectly happy with the flavour of vanilla every night.

Today, I want to talk about why I think it’s good to try new things – not only when it comes to food, but also in the bedroom – or outside of the bedroom, depending on how much privacy you have.  We’re going to talk about the interplay between dopamine, controlled risk-taking, adventure and trust in marriages as it pertains to sex and more.

SWM032 – Is oral sex unsanitary?

Sex Within Marriage Podcast

The question I have is concerning oral sex and whether it is “sanitary” or not,especially concerning cunnilingus, but also fellatio. I would love to go down on my wife, but she has a belief that she is “dirty” down there. Though she admits that it feels good she does not want me doing it to her. I have respectfully obliged her request, but I did ask if she would be willing to read an article or anything that would help shed some light on this.

Anonymous Questions – May 3, 2018

Anonymous Questions from our readers

In the last couple of weeks, we’ve received a few anonymous questions, and as I mentioned on our weekly update to the newsletter (subscribe here if you haven’t already), I’ll be answering them here for those who want to read and comment below. If you’d

The best way to discuss sexual fantasies

The best way to discuss sexual fantasies

Sharing a sexual fantasy with your spouse can be daunting.  I’ve received many emails from husbands and wives who have opened up to their spouse about something they want and get so completely shut down and rejected that they never want to open up again.

Why do we keep having the same argument?

Why do we keep having the same argument?

Do you ever feel like you just keep having the same argument, discussion or conflict over and over again? Perhaps it comes up every week, every month, or every year.  It might just be something small and seemingly insignificant, or it might be something larger