(You can read more details explaining how we are doing the dare here: The Love Dare with FirefighterWife)

Love Promotes Intimacy

 He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats
the matter separates close friends.

Proverbs 17:9 NIV

Excerpt from The Love Dare Book:

“The prospect of sharing our home with another person who knows us down to the most intimate detail is part of the deep pleasure of marriage.

 Yet this great blessing is also the site of its greatest danger. Someone who knows us this intimately can either love us at a depth we never imagined, or can wound us in ways we may never fully recover from.  It’s both the fire and the fear of marriage.

….

Your mate should not feel pressured to be perfect in order to receive your approval.  They should not walk on eggshells in the very place where they ought to feel the most comfortable in their bare feet.  The Bible says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).  The atmosphere in your marriage should be one of freedom.  Like Adam and Eve in the garden, your closeness should only intensify your intimacy.  Being “naked” and “not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25) should exist in the same sentence, right in your marriage – physically and emotionally.”

From Pinterest

“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.  (Song of Solomon 6:3)”

Today’s Dare

Determine to guard your mate’s secrets (unless they are dangerous to them or to you) and to pray for them.  Talk with your spouse, and resolve to demonstrate love in spite of these issues.  Really listen to them when they share personal thoughts and struggles with you.  Make them feel safe.

How are you doing?  Has it been easy?  Struggling?

Big question for the fire wives…..without giving away secrets, rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10…10 = My husband truly trusts me with his deepest secrets and 1 = he is very closed about his personal struggles.