To Have and to Hold!

1Co 7:1 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
1Co 7:2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
1Co 7:3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
1Co 7:4 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.
1Co 7:5 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.

Our culture is as up-side-down as possible when it comes to matters of sexual fidelity. Many spouses are extremely uncharitable with their mate due to "issues" they have about what God has intended for their pleasure and emotional proximity to one another. Withholding the wonderful gift which God has given to married couples is hazardous to the relationship.

Many fatal perversions will naturally result from a spouse defrauding his or her mate from marital pleasure.

Here Paul addresses this very issue. Men who are deprived will be tempted to seek satisfaction elsewhere. So Paul instructs the man not to touch a woman who is not his wife. The word "touch" here means to attach oneself to. I think that rendering of the word makes it pretty clear. The Apostle's answer to this temptation is marital fidelity and pleasure. The word “have” in verse 2 means to hold, as in caress.

We must then ask ourselves, "Am I defrauding my spouse in any manner?" If the answer is yes, we must repent of that wickedness which is rending the relationship and allowing temptations to arise which will destroy the marriage. We must then give to our spouse what they signed up for in the beginning, to have and to hold til death do us part.