Naked and Without Shame

And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Gen 2:25

I was recently struck by this verse in a new light. Often I have read it with the thought of Adam Eve not being ashamed of their physical nakedness. And I while I am sure that was true I can’t help but think about their emotional nakedness.

Adam and Eve did not know sin during this time. There were no regrets, no mistakes and nothing to hide from one another. Can you imagine what that brought into their relationship as husband and wife? They could have an open honest conversation about what they were feeling and thinking. There was no fear of rejection or fear what the other might think of them.

Communications between man and wife most likely was perfect. But I imagine that their relationship with God was also open and real. There was no trying to hide from God. The three of them talked about everything and anything without hiding. Sin had not entered into the equation of relationships.

They were naked before God and one another. There was no shame in their nakedness.

Then…

Came the serpent, the deception, the eating of the tree of knowledge and then sin entered into the world.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked ; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings… He (Adam) said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked ; so I hid myself." Genesis 3:7,10

Sin and shame entered into the world and we have been hiding every since. We hide from God and we hide from one another. The sad thing is, it is not the way God intended it to be.

Our relationship with God and our spouse should be open, real and genuine. Deep inside our hearts I believe we still have that desire, the desire to be totally open. To be naked emotionally. But fear causes us to hide.

We withhold our deepest feelings, thoughts, and dreams from our spouse. I wonder what would happen to our marriages if we could reach a place of total emotional nakedness?

I have learned that I don’t need to hide from my husband. Through the years I have learned to trust him with my deepest fears, thoughts and emotions. But honestly there are times it’s still hard.

I have found it interesting that as I grow deeper in my trust of God and His unconditional love that it’s easier to be open with my life. I surely have a long way to go, but it’s been interesting thinking about what it might be like to be totally naked before our spouse and bot be ashamed.

Would love to know your thoughts? Do you think it’s possible to get to the point where we can be naked and not ashamed?

What about your marriage? Are you able to be naked emotionally before your husband? If not, have you ever wondered why?