When Phil first told me he was a naturist I wasn’t really surprised. I knew about his inclination to be nude as a kid and teenager. I knew he liked being nude at home when the kids weren’t around. The fact that he preferred being nude wasn’t a shock. The shock came when he told me he was talking with other “strangers” that preferred to be nude too and that they were Christians as well. I would have laughed had I not been so angry! I was sure there was no such thing as a Christian naturist. They must be a bunch of perverts! My curiosity got the best of me though, or maybe it was the Spirit’s prodding. I wanted to research on my own and see what these people were really like. I was confused when they seemed fairly normal. There had to be something I was missing.
The Lord and I had lots of conversations over the next few days. The more I talked with Him and put my preconceived ideas down, the more I began to see clearly. Within 5 or 6 days I realized that what I was missing was the goodness of naturism and the friendships of those I once called perverts. I was all in! I’m aware that most wives don’t have the journey I did. Most take longer to join their husbands and some never do. I understand the hesitation. I truly do! It’s a huge step and one that can be very scary! However, if the Lord has drawn your husband to naturism, I would like to encourage you to study Scripture with your husband. Read books written about Christian naturism and talk to others who have this conviction before you write it off. This different way of thinking is genuinely a blessing to our men and to us. Most men in our culture are doing one of two things: constantly trying to avoid temptation or seeking it out, or a combination of the two. To have a husband who can see naked women but doesn’t lust after them is a gift! I know without a doubt that Phil is faithful to me, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. The difference in our relationship is astounding! Things weren’t bad before, but we didn’t love each other all that well. We have had so much fun together over the last 3 plus years. We love each other on a much deeper level than before.
This new way of thinking has brought us the gift of the people we have met on this journey. They are some of the most genuine, sincere, Godly, kind, funny, generous, amazing people you will ever meet! They have blessed us in so many ways. We pray for each other, share our highs and lows, and we’ve traveled across the country to visit some of them. We’ve stayed in their homes and eaten dinner at their tables. We’ve met their children and gone to church with them. We’ve played games and laughed so much! We’ve mourned with each other during loss and celebrated when new life enters the world. We’ve had some of the most amazing Spiritual conversations. They are the first we want to share news with. They are not only friends, they have become family and I wouldn’t trade them for anything!
For me, it’s a gift that I can go to the local public pool and never once judge others or myself for the way we look. The weight that is lifted by not caring how others perceive me is so freeing. I know who I am, and I love who I am because I am so much more than my weight or my curves, and so are you! You are a beautiful daughter of the Most High King. You are dearly loved by Him. You are treasured and adored. You are sacred and made for a purpose. You are precious and very good You are an image of God!
I didn’t know it then, but allowing the Lord to reveal to me the truth about my body was the catalyst for many other truths the Lord wanted to show me about who He is and what He wants for my life and for His people. It has literally changed everything for me. Satan didn’t want me to be free in my thinking about my body. I don’t believe he is all knowing, but I do think he has enough experience to know that this was just the tip of the iceberg for me. Satan wants us to stay in bondage to anything that keeps us from knowing and experiencing the fullness of the Father’s love for us. For so many women, being in bondage to our own bodies is one of the easiest ways to keep us in chains.
It wasn’t just for me that those bonds were broken though. With the help of the Lord we are changing the way our family thinks today and hopefully for generations to come. We need to start showing our children that they have been created in the image and likeness of the Most High God. That word means a picture—a physical and spiritual image of the Lord. No matter what we look like, our bodies are a gift from God and the pinnacle of His creation. If we can begin to put that into the minds and hearts of our children, I believe that we can begin to change the current course the world and the church is on. The current methods aren’t working! We give the boys a pass with phrases like, “boys will be boys” and “every man’s battle.” We put blame and guilt on girls because their skirts are too short and their shirts are too low cut. It’s wrong, and it’s not fair to either group.
I will not lie down and surrender to the notion that my boys are sentenced to a lifetime of bouncing their eyes or installing barriers on their computers in order not to lust. That is bondage! We need renewed minds and hearts.
I refuse to lie down and surrender to the notion that my daughter will forever feel inferior and ugly because she’s comparing her body to the ones she sees in the magazines or on TV. That is bondage! We need renewed minds and hearts.
Change starts with us, and we will do what we can as the Lord guides us to help bring freedom to those who don’t even know they are in bondage, and to help guide those who are already seeking.
Isaiah 61:1: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound…”
Galatians 5:1: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”
I was in bondage to shameful and hateful thinking towards myself and toward others. Your bondage may be different, but the desire of the Father is that we all be set free from the things that hinder us from fully worshiping and bringing Him glory. If it holds you back, it’s bondage, and you need to be set free.
Once you’ve been set free, don’t look back like Lot’s wife. Run full steam ahead into the new life that the Lord wants to bless you with. Don’t allow Satan to trick you into falling back into stinkin’ thinkin’.
Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
The Father has helped me renew my mind and my heart. What was initially for me an oxymoron, Christian naturist, has become a reality in my life, and one for which I am forever grateful!
This was a sneak peak from Mrs. Phil’s chapter in “Surprised Into Freedom”.
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Aching for Eden 