What about sexy.
oooooooooh... I said SEXY
Growing up in a conservative christian background I lived in a world where sexy wasnt really ok. Pretty was ok. There was a balancing act between pretty, not too pretty and oh no.. NO to sexy.
Now, when I say sexy i am not saying trashy. I am not saying letting it all hang out. Please understand i am coming from a background where tank tops were not allowed. A place where top buttons needed to be buttoned and skirts way below the knee.
I was the youngest (still am) haha.. but I was also a rebel. I fought the system. I wanted to feel pretty, wanted to wear a durn tank top cause it was HOT OUTSIDE! and I firmly believed trashy sexy was in how you acted no matter what you wore. I was not out there to draw attention, to flirt or whatever. I wanted to feel good in the clothes I wore. I wanted freedom to choose.
A gal who grows up the way I did is meant to have self esteem issues when it comes to body image. On one hand I was a atheletic tough gal on the other wanted to look and feel pretty. I often wondered what was the christian thing to be.... was it ok to be pretty.... was it ok to be .... sexy?
Recently I have been thinking of Esther a lot.
You know the story of Esther.... have you read it lately?
Was Esther pretty? Was she just sort of pretty like Diane Sawyer
OR was she drop dead gorgeous? Like Angelina?
Both women are pretty... but you have to admit Angelina is sexy.
Let's see.
Esther chapter 2:
5 Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, 6 who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin [a] king of Judah. 7 Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This girl, who was also known as Esther, was lovely in form and features, and Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.
8 When the king's order and edict had been proclaimed, many girls were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king's palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. 9 The girl pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven maids selected from the king's palace and moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem.
All this gets me to wondering about Esther.......
"lovely in form and features"--- this phrasing meant she stood out. She wasn't just pretty.. SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL.... and I believe she was sexy!
Do you think Esther knew this? sure.
Do you think Esther took care of herself? Do you think she cared about her appearance? Of course. How do i know.....because its says "she was lovely in form and features"... if you dont take care of your body.... of your appearance people wouldnt say that about you.
Why do I know she was sexy....because the king immediately saw her and liked her. She stood out from alllllll the other pretty girls. I would even go as far to say she was strikingly beautiful. Was she this way because she didnt care for herself? NO. I think she stood out because she was confident, self assured AND beautiful.
10 Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. 11 Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.
12 Before a girl's turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. 13 And this is how she would go to the king: Anything she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem to the king's palace. 14 In the evening she would go there and in the morning return to another part of the harem to the care of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he was pleased with her and summoned her by name.
15 When the turn came for Esther (the girl Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king's eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. (the message says it this way:she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king's eunuch in charge of the harem, had recommended. Esther, just as she was, won the admiration of everyone who saw her.) 16 She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
17 Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
We live in a world that has taken beauty and sexy and skewed it, perverted it. We live in a world that says to be sexy is to be trashy.
This tends to send Christian women onto a never never land of not knowing what is right and what is wrong as far as beauty and sexiness.
Over the past few years I have had to become OK with my body. Ok with my body being physically fit, wearing clothes that fit correctly, and having confidence that it is OK to spend time on myself and learning it is OK to be sexy!!! To be pretty, sexy, beautiful for my husband, to be confident for my God and my purpose, to be fit to live a life of service.
God didn't create women to be fat, unattractive, lazy with low self esteems.
WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO OURSELVES!
God created women to be our husbands help mate and to be confident...... being beautiful for my man is not a sin!
Spending time working out, working through my food issues, going to the hair salon and getting "beauty treatments" isn't sin!
Taking care of myself isn't vanity if it is done for the right purpose.
Did Esther KNOW she was beautiful and sexy? SURE
Did she use her beauty for a larger purpose than herself?
Could she have chosen to stay in her village, living a quiet peaceful life, getting married and being normal?
Could she have chosen to abuse her body, mind and spirit or keep it protected?
did she take her "form" for granted and let it waist away?
Or... did she trust God would bless her and provide for her....
did she work "on herself" so she, some day would be ready when God called?
I wonder.......
I wonder.... what did Eve look like? Adam sure liked her... I wonder why?
Because she had the skin of an elephant (like a smoker or a person who spends too much time in the sun), or the smile of a junk food junkie who never brushes their teeth?
Was Eve crabby and negative, did she love her man and tell him so OR... or did she complain, and fuss? was she tired all the time and selfish?
NO. Could it be that EVE WAS BEAUTIFUL too?
Is it ok for Christian women, Christian moms, be sexy, to be beautiful?
Is it ok to spend time on "themselves" to be the women God created them to be?
Is it ok to work at being fit so that Gods purpose in our life can be fulfilled?
How can I be the mom, the wife, and friend to those I love if I feel like crap all the time?
How can I minister to others if I AM THE ONE THAT ALWAYS NEEDS TO BE MINISTERED TOO???
WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO OURSELVES!
Is it ok to feel pretty, beautiful ... sexy?
I believe.
YES.
How can we lead. How can we serve. How can we keep our families strong. How can we say NO to the devil. How can we defeat the ills of this world. Heal the broken hearts and love the unlovable if we cannot LOVE OURSELVES! If we cannot walk down the street or lift our own groceries? If we cannot get our tushy off the couch and out of our own self loathing.
I want to start a revolution.... one where Christian woman, Grandmas, moms, wives, and sisters all stand up and say......
"I am prepared Lord, I am ready for what you are calling me to do."
Instead of us wasting away in the pains, stresses and ill health that we have brought upon ourselves.
Our body's are temples, our spirits are the key to spreading the joy of the Lord and our Minds are the stronghold of the Word, .. all of these can and should be use to His glory.
Eph. 3
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Comments
I know my struggle with fitness and health and weight had a HUGE impact on my relationship with my hubby, my kids and the expectations of myself. How I treated others..how I cared for others.... (because of how i felt about myself)
The sexy I am refering too is to not be sexy for worldly standards, to be fit, sexy and healthy to care about our looks and to look good for our husbands isnt wrong. We can be beautiful, smart, self confident, care about how we look and feel and it not be for the world.. but for how it changes who we are inside.. our thoughts, our feelings of ourselves, and many times the burdened of self imposed limitations.
I call it finding our God Self :)
(note: you have to get a copy of the King James Version. I like it so much better and less translation through time. It is awesome!)
I actually love using biblegateway.com.. it has all the different translations and in many languages... i LOVE reading different versions of the same passages!