By Sheila
Today I want to tackle a rather controversial subject. Except “want” is really not the right word. I’d love to run as far away from this one as possible. But I keep being asked about sex toys, and so I thought it was necessary.
I want to make it clear from the outset, though, that I am giving my opinion. I do not claim to speak for God. When I was researching The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex, I had to think about this and give my opinion, and I did. So what I have to say has been the conclusion that I have come to after speaking at marriage conferences, reading, and praying. So here goes.
First, the context. I believe that God created sex to connect us on three levels: the physical, the emotional, and the spiritual. And sex works best when all three are involved! That doesn’t mean that every time you make love the earth has to move, but the sum total of your sex life should connect you not just physically, but on the other levels as well. You should feel as if you are one.
But here’s the problem. You can’t connect on a spiritual and emotional level unless commitment and marriage is involved. You can’t make love to say “I love you” and “I cherish you” unless you truly do. And in our culture, by and large sex has been removed from that committed relationship. So what does our culture emphasize when it comes to sex? The physical. That’s all they have.
And when sex is only physical, and there’s not the high that comes from truly expressing love when you make love, then you need more and more physical things to give you that same high, just like alcoholics develop a tolerance for alcohol and thus need more and more alcohol.
Hence we live in a pornographic culture, where sex is supposed to involve all kinds of really weird and wacky things. It’s not enough just to make love anymore. We’re supposed to be gymnasts, and we’re supposed to do all kinds of things that a century ago people would have completely balked at.
Now I’m not saying it’s wrong to have fun, or to stretch your limits, or even to stretch during sex 
! I’m just saying that our culture emphasizes the physical, and misses out on the deep spiritual connection that sex should form.
! I’m just saying that our culture emphasizes the physical, and misses out on the deep spiritual connection that sex should form.
And interestingly, studies have shown that the people who actually enjoy sex the most, and the women who are most likely to orgasm during sex, are those in committed, religious marriages. Because they’re the least likely to feel divorce is an option, so they’re with this person for life. And commitment is the best aphrodisiac! I had read studies like that before, but when I did my own survey for The Good Girl’s Guide to Sex, I found the same thing. Those who were the most committed Christians were also the most likely to have fun in bed.
That’s the background. Now for the problem. Because the culture emphasizes the physical, it’s easy for us as Christians to start thinking that way, too. And if we’re concentrating just on the physical, it’s also easy for sex to become shallow. Where you don’t feel valued or loved; you just feel used.
It’s like this: we’re SUPPOSED to experience orgasm. But if sex is only about orgasm, there’s a problem.
So now let’s turn back to sex toys. Here are some thoughts:
1. Sex Toys Emphasize the Physical
Again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the physical side of sex. It’s supposed to be great. But when we emphasize only that, sex can lose its power to really bind us together. So I’m worried that if people get too into sex toys they will thus get too into chasing the next orgasm, rather than expressing love.
2. Sex Toys Concentrate on Parallel Sexual Experiences, not Mutual Ones
There is nothing wrong with fun; fun is good. There is something wrong with making sex into something that’s purely physical, or that’s primarily masturbatory. How you find that line is really between you and your husband. But I just urge you to think about those things, and then decide what you’re going to do!
I elaborate a lot more on what I think is okay to do/what’s not okay to do, how to feel really “one” while you’re making love, and how to experience spiritual intimacy during sex, in The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex! Don’t miss it!
Sheila Wray Gregoire loves family. She loves her family, including her three children (one in heaven) and her husband; and she loves that God made families as the primary vehicle to show His love. Probably part of this love stems from the fact that growing up, family wasn’t healthy. Her dad left when she was two, and Sheila saw the damage that divorce does, even though her mom was amazing (and still is, as they take missions trips together!) So her passion in this life is to help strengthen families–to equip women to be the best wives and mothers they can be, and especially to cultivate marriages that are rock solid.
Sheila has written four books for women, including To Love, Honor and Vacuum: When you feel more like a maid than a wife and a mother, and she has another coming out with Zondervan soon. She also writes a weekly parenting column, and speaks at women’s events and marriage conferences around North America. Usually, though, you can find her at home, where she homeschools her two daughters. And knits. Preferably simultaneously!
Sheila blogs daily at http://tolovehonorandvacuum.blogspot.com (To Love, Honor and Vacuum), and you can find her on Twitter (http://twitter.com/sheilagregoire) and on Facebook (http://facebook.com/sheila.gregoire.books).
Click on the picture below to check out Sheila's books!
Most sex toys (not all by any means) are really masturbatory in nature. They help you have an orgasm. Even if he’s the one using it on you, then, you’re having a parallel sexual experience, you’re not really making love to your husband.
Now I don’t actually think there’s anything wrong with parallel experiences as a whole. If he, for instance, were to tease you non stop for thirty minutes and then bring you to orgasm while you’re doing nothing to him, I think that’s great. So I’m not against the concept.
What I am against is that some people start using sex toys so much when they make love that you feel like it’s the sex toy that’s making you feel good, and not your husband.
Yes, God designed us to be orgasmic, but there’s a thread in our culture that says “everybody is entitled to an orgasm”. And let’s face it; if it’s expected that everybody will have several sex partners, then the only constant in your sex life is you. So you have to figure out how you work best, and you have to concentrate on you, rather than on us.
So if, with sex toys, you start to rely on them, whether you’re together or apart, you lose some of the closeness that sex can bring.
3. Sex Toys Can Recreate Body Parts in Totally Unrealistic Ways
Most guys aren’t that big. And they can’t vibrate like that. Do you really want to get reliant on something your husband can never be for an orgasm?
Most guys aren’t that big. And they can’t vibrate like that. Do you really want to get reliant on something your husband can never be for an orgasm?
Now, these are my objections and reservations. This does not mean that you can’t ever use sex toys. You may be even thinking to yourself, “the thing that I want to use wouldn’t even fall under those categories”. Okay, then. I’m not trying to pronounce a blanket statement. I’m just trying to issue a cautionary warning: remember, studies have shown that what feels the best is two people in a committed marriage making love. It’s not two people doing weirder and weirder things. I truly believe that if we completely jumped in with gusto with all the things that we can do together that don’t require batteries, the idea that we need batteries to spice up our life would disappear.
Good Girls Have More Fun!
ABOUT
Sheila Wray Gregoire loves family. She loves her family, including her three children (one in heaven) and her husband; and she loves that God made families as the primary vehicle to show His love. Probably part of this love stems from the fact that growing up, family wasn’t healthy. Her dad left when she was two, and Sheila saw the damage that divorce does, even though her mom was amazing (and still is, as they take missions trips together!) So her passion in this life is to help strengthen families–to equip women to be the best wives and mothers they can be, and especially to cultivate marriages that are rock solid.Sheila has written four books for women, including To Love, Honor and Vacuum: When you feel more like a maid than a wife and a mother, and she has another coming out with Zondervan soon. She also writes a weekly parenting column, and speaks at women’s events and marriage conferences around North America. Usually, though, you can find her at home, where she homeschools her two daughters. And knits. Preferably simultaneously!
Sheila blogs daily at http://tolovehonorandvacuum.blogspot.com (To Love, Honor and Vacuum), and you can find her on Twitter (http://twitter.com/sheilagregoire) and on Facebook (http://facebook.com/sheila.gregoire.books).
Also…
Interests
Knitting
Camping
Traveling to Africa!
Favorite Movies
Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version)
Band of Brothers (to show that I'm a little strange)
Bed of Roses
Lord of the Rings
Sense and Sensibility
Favorite Music
Third Day
Mercy Me
Martina McBride
Terri Clark
Sugarland
Favorite Books
Anything by Jane Austen (especially P&P)
Francine Rivers' The Mark of the Lion series
the Thoene's series on World War II and Jerusalem
29 DAYS TO GREAT SEX
GREAT RESOURCES TO ORGANIZE YOUR HOUSEHOLD
http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/2011/11/wifey-wednesday-can-christians-use-sex-toys/
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