My take on the “let go of yourself” culture, post marriage and babies…
I have found that most times in life, confusion and delusion occur when people live by the swing of a pendulum- from one extreme to another.
Idolatry of self is sin. Laziness is also a sin.
Can you imagine if we approached our relationship with the Lord, the way that we often approach our marriage?
For example…often times in marriage, we find ourselves in a place of complacency where we say “I’m busy, I have no time to feed my body well- let me grab a bag of chips for my meal”…or “I’m tired, my day is fully accounted for- there’s no time to exercise or strengthen my body”…or “he’s already married to me, he has no choice but to have sex with me anyway, so it doesn’t matter what I look like…”
What if we had the same general notion with the Lord…“I know I am Yours and You will love me no matter what, so here I am God- I might still curse, I might still gossip, I don’t have time to read your Word- but I Love you Lord, you know that…take me as I am…”
Sure, you might make it into heaven at the end of the day- but there are many difficulties that you would have faced here on earth and hardships that you could have avoided if you simply chose not to rely on the fact that “His love is constant, therefore I will continue to do…” versus the mindset of “because your love is content, I want to honor you and love you with a continual effort of choosing to surrender to sanctification- to feed my spirit with daily reading of the Word and prayer etc…
Now parallel that with your marriage;
Sure, your marriage might not end in divorce if you “let yourself go”- but think of the various hang ups and difficulties; the unnecessary problems that you could avoid if you loved your husband out of delight and not just duty.
Ecclesiastes 3 says “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing...”
What if it’s time to confront your laziness and recognize it for what it is? What if it’s time to surrender that at the foot of the cross and ask Him to circumcise your heart? What if the season of “generous grace” needs to be confronted by a season of intentional discipline?
By no means am I intending to sound harsh, judgmental or heartless. The things I share are often times things that I myself get confronted on by the Lord, to work out and wrestle with. So I’m with you sister- I know how tired and touched out you feel by the end of a day. I know all you want to do is sit down and stare at the ceiling in silence to combat the constant noise that’s around you all day. I know you’re so tired of finding yourself in the kitchen, cooking every single meal over and over again therefore justifying eating yet another spoonful of mac and cheese and calling it a meal.
I KNOW!
But let’s choose to be women who delight in the Lord so much, that it spills over into our marriage as we delight in our husbands and by extension, delight in taking care of our bodies so that we do not live under the delusion of laziness.