I really enjoyed reading this chapter. All women couples everywhere should read this chapter! “Beauty Worship” and using sex to sell things is everywhere you look. We women are bombarded with pictures of bone thin models who many times appear to be malnourished to me…and yet many of us continue to believe the lie that sex would be better for us (or for our husbands) if we lost ten pounds or if we got in the tanning bed or if we had a boob job 😕
He isn’t saying that doing those things are necessarily wrong. If you know that losing weight would benefit you health-wise and make you feel like doing more stuff with your kids/family and feel better about yourself, then by all means work on that! If you honestly feel more comfortable having a tan in the summer months and it makes you less self conscious about your almost albino looking legs, then okay. But listen to this quote from pg. 157: “…if the subtle motivation is that somehow you’ll have more worth as a person, then you’re wasting your time and your money. If you’re convinced that you’ll be more lovable, a better person, or more valuable to others if your appearance is altered, you will ultimately be disappointed. If you believe that having bigger breasts, a tighter stomach, or a fuller head of hair will increase your sexual enjoyment and that your emotional intimacy will skyrocket, you’ve bought into the “great bodies equal great sex” lie.”
It’s like saying if you go out and get a boob job that your husband’s orgasm will be stronger and longer than usual. Or if your husband goes through all of these laser procedures or implants for hair regrowth on his head, that you will all of a sudden be more aroused and have a more satisfying sex life with him. The media is working hard to condition us all to believe these lies about sex and beauty, but we need to stay rooted to what we know is the truth. Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. (He also gives us MANY more scripture references on pages 166-167!)
Have you ever allowed yourself to get sucked in to believing some of these lies about beauty given to us by our culture? I’m not sure how many of you are reading this book with your husbands, but this chapter has some very good discussion questions at the end for couples. Please share any thoughts you have about this in the comment box!
Christian Nymphos 