Perhaps you, too, have watched the ad on television as the exquisite example of female fitness is pumping her cycle to the commands of the voice in the monitor and thought to yourself: “Maybe if I tried harder, I could look like that. No cellulite; perfectly toned, no jiggling.”

With all of my imaginings about fitness, the reality is: I’m never going to look like that for a variety of reasons. Nonetheless, Scripture tells us that strength is a virtue; our bodies are, after all, God’s temple. The proverbial excellent wife of Proverbs 31, clothed herself with dignity and strength and made her arms strong. (Vs. 17, 25) (Now, right there is a big problem area.)

The Apostle Paul also acknowledged that training the body has some benefits. “I discipline my body to keep it under control.” (I Corinthians 9:27) (Another big challenge for me.) But far from flexing his muscle (spiritual or otherwise), Paul acknowledged the limitations of his strength, and discovered that in his weakness, living with the thorn in his side, the very thing that kept him totally dependent upon God, he could boast of his weaknesses for “when I am weak, then I am strong.” God had assured him that “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (II Corinthians 12:9,10)

In the beginning, God gifted the man with woman as a means of strength. Here’s the challenge today for those of us who are married daughters of the King of the Universe: To know where our real strength lies. The Apostle Peter wrote that we are to be a protected gender, the “weaker vessels,” (I Peter 3:7). It’s pretty obvious that men usually do the heavy lifting. So, no matter how buff we might be, let’s admit it, girls, there’s a big difference in our physiology for some very big reasons. Marriage is not to be a competition but a complementary union in which the strengths and differences of each husband and wife supplement the weaknesses of the other. The Psalmist wrote:

Blessed are those whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion … (Psalm 84:5-7)

How blessed is the husband whose wife’s strength comes from God’s life-giving Spirit, empowering her; opening her eyes to see all the strengths God has put in him; and letting him know she is FOR him.

While our Proverbs 31 wife appeared to have been a tower of strength, the heart of her husband trusted in her because “she does him good and not harm, all the days of her life … her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.” (Vs. 11, 23)

Timothy Keller observed that:

“To serve someone else’s promotion and success does not compromise your dignity and greatness. Rather, it establishes it.” *

Imagine … What new things do you think God might do in and through marriages as wives fully promote their husband’s dignity and giftedness for the glory of God? How about in your marriage?

While we’re making every effort to exercise self-control over our bodies, let’s remember this from I Corinthians 6:20: You were “… bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

*T. Keller, God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life, Penguin Random House LLC, New York, pg. 261.