Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
I started off this series by saying that I feel the pressure to exercise, and then I never told you why.
That postpartum skin and bones? They’re going away. My hormones are changing as Samuel gets older, and my body is starting to take its normal shape again.
So why all of a sudden do I feel the need to run 5 miles?…and the reason is not for cardiovascular health.
Don’t get me wrong; I absolutely think exercise is important for health, good stewardship, etc. I just don’t want to do it because of how I look.
I don’t want to lift weights, do yoga, run, walk, ride bikes, swim, or whatever because I’m afraid. Afraid of who I am. Of how God made me. Of what the world will see.
Before getting pregnant, I exercised regularly for years, usually 2-3 times a week. It was very moderate stuff (except for when I trained for a half-marathon). Healthy stuff. But I rarely let myself skip. Because of fear.
So I want to give you permission, love. Don’t run for fear of what your body will look like tomorrow. Don’t run because you’ve always been thin, and if you gain 1 pound, everyone will look at you differently. Don’t run because you’re pregnant and scared of what you’ll look like once the baby comes. Don’t run because you’re heavy, and running makes you think you are worthy to eat.
And please meditate on these things with me.
Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. (Proverbs 31:30, NETBible)
In the same way, wives, be subject to your own husbands. Then, even if some are disobedient to the word, they will be won over without a word by the way you live, when they see your pure and reverent conduct. Let your beauty not be external – the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes – but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight. For in the same way the holy women who hoped in God long ago adorned themselves by being subject to their husbands, like Sarah who obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You become her children when you do what is good and have no fear in doing so. (1 Peter 3:2-6, NETBible)
Click this link to download your FREE Family Goals printable! See? Subscribing to The Candid Pastor's Wife has its perks! Don’t Run for Fear: Beauty, Part 3 is a post from: The Candid Pastor's Wife: Faith. Marriage. Beauty. Women. Culture.
