Sex is God’s good gift, but like fire, it must remain where God designed it to belong. Dr. Michael Youssef explains why sexual intimacy is holy within marriage and why believers must honor God with bodies that belong fully to Christ.
Fire in the fireplace is warm, beautiful, and life-giving—but fire in the wrong place becomes destructive. In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast, Dr. Michael Youssef uses this picture to explain God’s design for sexual intimacy: a good and holy gift to be enjoyed within the covenant of marriage.
Paul reminds believers in 1 Corinthians that our bodies are not our own. We have been bought with the blood of Jesus Christ, set apart for God, and called to honor Him with our whole being. This means what we do with our bodies matters deeply to the Lord.
Dr. Youssef turns to Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 7, where the apostle addressed a culture filled with sexual confusion, broken vows, distorted views of marriage, and false ideas about spirituality. Against that backdrop, Paul pointed back to God’s wisdom from Genesis: man and woman were created to complement one another physically, emotionally, and spiritually in marriage.
Within God’s design, sexual intimacy is not shameful—it is a holy expression of covenant love, companionship, partnership, and selfless service between husband and wife. This devotional calls believers to reject the world’s confusion, honor the Lord with their bodies, and receive God’s good gifts according to His Word and His glory.
Prayer: Lord, may I use my body in the way You have intended. Help me set it apart for Your will so that it might be a source of blessing. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband” (1 Corinthians 7:3).
Learn more in Dr. Michael A. Youssef’s sermon Healthy Living in a Sick World, Honor God with Your Body: LISTEN NOW | WATCH NOW