Naked and Not Ashamed

And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:25 KJV)
This one of the earliest insight we have to relationship between husband and wife. There are three parts to this verse. I would consider them separately.
1. They were both naked. Being without clothing or covering. Nude. Nothing to hide from each other. We as human beings hide a lot of things away with clothings. Hernias, scars of previous injuries or surgeries, excess fat, nodes, swellings, skin discolouration, bumps, ulcers... People would have different reactions if they are exposed, naked before others. I will leave that to the individual's imagination. 
Apart from physical things on our bodies, We may also have habits that only our spouses know about. Snoring, drooling during sleep, bed wetting... Some of them could be a source of shame. But in marriage relationship, these are exposed constantly to our spouses and in that sense we are naked to each other.

In addition to above, human beings are not just physical beings, we have emotions, hopes, aspirations, fears, ambition, motives, goals that could all be exposed, shared or hidden from each other. For husband and wife, there should be nakedness beyond the physical. 
One of the reasons for extolling the virtues of good communication in marriage is that it forsters sharing of thoughts, hopes, aspirations, fears and so on. As we continue to share at this level, we are further exposed and lay ourselves bare. We continue to be naked to each other. We understand each other more, in better position to defend each other, support and love each other in a greater dimension. In contrast, if one spouse hides, covers, refuse to be bare before the other, then this forsters suspicion, frustration, competition, erodes trust and eventually drives the couple apart.

Beyond communication with each other, praying together helps us to be naked to each other. We know that when we pray to God, we bring our deepest need to him, we share our inner thought and fears. As God answered our prayers, our spouses also gets to share our heartfelt desires.

2. The man and his wife. The second part of this verse ensures that the nakedness we are talking about is only in the context of the man and his wife.  Not the man and somebody else's wife or daughter. Jesus' encounter with the woman by the well in John readily comes to mind. Jesus told the woman that the person she is living with is not her husband. I think it is crucial for a man to do as much as lies within his power to find and live in harmony with his wife and the woman to do same with her husband. It is in this kind of relationship that that the man and wife would be naked in all aspect and yet not be ashamed.

3. The third part of the verse says, and they were not ashamed. In the context of man and his wife, being naked should bring no shame at all.
Every man and every woman has some strength and some weakness. In the context of marriage, we are exposed to different weaknesses of our spouse ranging form physical, habits, emotional, health, mental, cognitive and so on. This exposure should not bring shame for either of the couple. 
I used to tell my wife before marriage that I am marrying her with her strength and all her weaknesses. We can not separate one from the other. We will definitely be exposed to them and feel free to discuss them without shame at all. We should seek help together in the areas of weakness. Although there is tendency to be ashamed when exposed to the different aspects of our spouses lives, the bible clearly showed us this example that in the marriage union, we have the certificate to be NAKED and NOT ASHAMED.

Exercise
What are you hiding from your spouse?
Physical blemishes?
Your fears
Your hopes
Your money
Your investments
Your scars in life
Your bad habits?
Make your own list and work out how best to work together on in. 

                                   As you share your body,
                                you should share your burden