Please pray for my wife and I. We’ve been happily married for nearly 25 years but for many of those years, I kept secret from her my thoughts and desires for living a life that embraces good nudity. (I refer to simple non-sexual nudity – social or private – as good nudity.) God convicted me that my secrecy was wrong and that I should discuss good nudity with my wife and so over several years I tried to broach the subject but with little success. I prayed for the opportunity to really discuss it with her seriously with love and understanding and for her to take me seriously. A few months ago, God answered that prayer and although she now knows my ideas and desires, she believes without a shadow of a doubt that all nudity outside the bedroom is wrong and she is quite angry and hurt that I believe what I do. I’ve gently and lovingly explained why I believe the way I do and have given her the Biblical reasoning behind why I believe we have the liberty to live this way, but she remains thoroughly convinced that our nude bodies are only for sex and should never be seen by anyone else.
I thank God for the discussions that we’ve had thus far and that I’m no longer hiding this secret. I believe that God wants me to continue to gently lead her toward the way that He views our bodies (our bodies that He created and called very good), but I believe He is leading me to back off for now and turn it over to Him. So my request is that you would join me in praying for the two of us; that you would pray that God’s will be done in this matter, whatever it may be. The thought that keeps coming to mind is how wonderful it would be if my wife were to cross paths with someone whose wisdom and faith she would respect and who would share the honest, practical, Scriptural based truth about good nudity with her. I have no idea who that might be or even if that is the way God might choose to work, but I know that she listens to those who she respects and has changed her mind in the past through such influences. I also pray that if God wants me to change or do something differently, that I will pick up on that and follow His leading. My wife is a wonderful person and loves the Lord and my desire is to care for her and love her “just as Christ loves the church.”
Just so you’re not alarmed, we’re not in crisis over this. In fact we’re very much in love and are very happy together. The issue of good nudity is really the only big thing we are divided on and I feel that just being able to discuss it has brought us even closer (she probably would not agree). Please pray for us; it will make a difference.
Neal, communication is the basis for truth. I'm sure your wife would agree that information or opinion witheld is less than total truth but information forced is aggression. Gentle sharing, as the Spirit leads, will take longer and last longer. We all know that prayer is the key to any success. Bearone
Neal,
Thank you so much for your message. We see that we do have a ministry here and are very grateful that you trusted us to ask petitions from our Lord and Savior to step into your marriage and help you through.
We can see that Jesus is already in your marriage, but we will ask him to step into this arena, this "closet" and take on ALL the "rooms of your house" including your wifes'.
You have not mentioned if you had any children at home, so we are assuming none are. You did say that she did not believe that "anyone else" should see you nude, but is it OK for her? And must it be only sex? By her forcing the issue to be a sexual issue, does she realize that she is promoting sexual thoughts in nudity? Does she realize that she is playing the sexual thought game the world taught her? That is how the world thinks. Now God never said the body was for sex only. He said to not abuse the body because it is Gods' Temple. That includes how we treat the body health wise. Are we abusing Gods' body by our thoughts?
We will pray about this. I was realizing last night that this forum is more than just a place for us to get together and chat. It is a Ministry for naturists, so all can come to the Lord together. We can be a safe place to learn and grow. We are here to serve one anothers needs spiritually and emotionally.
We have seen young and old get together. "The rich and the poor meet together, and the Lord is the maker of them all" Prov. 22:2 The naturist and non-naturist. Some have come to accept their mates naturism, even though they choose not to participate.
Keep the marriage strong in the Lord. As you said, you have a good marriage, so we do want you to keep it that way, and you listened and backed off for a while. As so did I. I had the same problem, only mine was that my wife was afraid of what others might do, especially the legality of it. She had no idea that there were as many naturists out there as we have found. And since I started this forum, we have found many were Christians from all denominations, even the "strict" ones!
Our prayers are with you,
Again, thanks for trusting us to be a part of your spiritual and physical life.
Neal, I want you to know that I will be praying for you and your wife. I understand this very well as I am going through much the same thing. I can see God working in my situation and have hope for what the future brings. I know that God is in your situation as well. As many people will tell you, your marriage is the most important part of this equation and if your naturism or the marriage must go, naturism is out the door. I also know that it is not that easy. Those of us who believe this to be a gift from God find it very hard to give up. Trust the Lord. It is for freedom that Christ set us free and I believe that he will set you free from this trial as well. Give your wife a big hug and tell her how much you love her. We will all be praying for you both.
RE:: ""Please pray for us regarding good nudity…""
April 16 2004, 1:31 PM
Neal,
You got excellant advice from nakedspirit.
At this point, back off AND Listen to what she is telling you, not what she is saying.
Pressuring a reluctant spouse is a proven receipe for disaster.
The more that you push her, from your description of her present feelings, the more resentment she will feel and build up. You will open the door for Satan.
Give her a few weeks - yes, weeks. If she doesn't bring up the subject in a positive manner, take a negative as a NO. If she doesn't bring it up, very quietly inquire. If you get the same level of rejection, put it on the shelf.
Choosing nudism over her may well result in your losing her. Is it that important? If so, don't put her through the trauma, just have a clean break.
I will be praying for you. I don't believe that I could improve on what anyone has already posted, so I will leave best alone. I have however, been through a similar situation with my wife, if not quite so extreme. See my post to Nakedspirit 04-17.
