Fitness, Faith, and Femininity Part 3

This post is a continuation of our series on Fitness, Faith, and Femininity. You can check out the intro here and the first post here and the second post here. While this post does address those issues it also touches on the very special relationship between a husband and a wife. This post is written for a mature, married audience.

Today I will be answering Karyn’s question. She wrote, “How could you list “Is my husband happy with my body”? You should love your body for you, not for him. His expectations of your body should influence if you work out or not.”

Way to ask a hard question Karyn! In my last post I wrote about how I chose to dress modestly in the gym because my body belongs to my husband. Let me clarify, my husband does not own me. God states his thoughts on marriage pretty clearly. God created man and in Genesis 2 the Bible shows how God felt that it was, “not good for man to be alone”. So God made a “helper” for him. I am MY husband’s helper. Later on in Genesis 2:23-25 it is written that, “**********” B is my equal. I was designed as a perfect match for him.

Even from the very beginning, God meant for a husband and a wife to become one flesh! This isn’t some dirty secret. Sometimes in Christian circles sex is this big terrible thing that can’t ever be mentioned. This is silly in my mind. Sex was created for married men and women. It is a wonderful gift that is meant to be enjoyed within the bounds of marriage.

So what does this have to do with Fitness, Faith and Femininity? My body is a gift that I get to give to my husband anytime we want. Why in the world would I want to give the love of my life a subpar gift? I wouldn’t!

This is where people say, “But shouldn’t he love you for your heart? Your modesty? Your [insert godly quality here].

Yup. He should and he does. But also, there is nothing wrong with liking the way that your spouse looks! If you don’t believe me, check out The Song of Solomon in the Bible. This little book hidden in the middle of the Bible tells the love story of King Solomon and his first love the Shulamite woman. Solomon praises his bride’s beauty, he appreciated her beauty and her body.

This doesn’t mean that I count calories, exercise to the point of ridiculousness, or try to get smaller in size. I love my body and my husband loves my body. I train to keep my body in good shape, plain and simple. I don’t step on a scale unless I go to the doctor. I don’t want to be a size 0. I want to be healthy.  I want to be in shape to move furniture, lift kids, and to minister; this is all true. But I also want to be in shape to bless my husband. I consider training to be the same as shaving your legs, washing your hair, or ironing your clothes. Maintaining and taking care of my body is simply taking care of the gift that I have the privilege of sharing with him every day, a gift that God designed.

A reminder: I write this with the hope of encouraging other Christian women to love their bodies and use them. Let me remind everyone that this is a Christian blog. If you can’t be nice, don’t post on this page. Any lewd, discriminatory, or hateful comments will be removed at my discretion.