In a powerful new "I Am Second" video, "Fixer Upper" stars Chip and Joanna Gaines shared how their relationship with one another mirrors Christ's love for His people - and how their faith drives everything they do, from their marriage to their hit home renovation show.
In the 7-minute video, the couple, who started dating in 2001 and married in 2003, share how despite growing up in very similar environments because both of their parents were believers, they had very different personalities.
"If you give Chip a boundary, he's gonna break that boundary. If you give him a rule, he's not gonna follow it. If you tell him, 'You can't go over this line,' he's gonna tow over it," Joanna says of Chip. "Fear and failure doesn't even cross his mind, he doesn't let that even go through one ear and out the other...You can't censor Chip. For someone who is a rule follower to a T, it's an adventure."
"Joanna is like the purest, most stable person I've ever met," Chip said. "My wife is a bit of wallflower. I joke with her pretty publicly that she was almost awkward when we first met."
At Chip's request, Joanna agreed to have their home renovation business become a reality show for HGTV in 2013. Fast forward three years, and the couple is now at the helm of a home improvement empire that includes a hit HGTV show, quarterly magazine, real estate company, and paint, rug, wallpaper and furniture line.
This past season, more than 25 million viewers tuned in to watch "Fixer Upper."
"If I didn't have Chip Gaines in my life, I'd still be dreaming in my head but not acting out on any of that, not living it out," Joanna says.
"You were like a flower in desperate need of water," Chip says to his wife. "You've blossomed in a way that is really fascinating to watch."
Chip added that Joanna's calm, steady personality and unfaltering faith allowed him to become the person God created him to be: "I think that's one of the reasons I love her like I do," he says. "She knows me in a way that has caused me to stop acting, I feel like I've really been an actor, a character my whole life. I always tried to prove something to someone. When I caught her...for the first time in my life, I felt like I could be exactly who I was. I've learned so much about order and structure and processes through my wife, and God is all of those things to me now. But, at the beginning, God was just chaotic to me, He was wild, He was untamed, He was unruly, and I like that."
Joanna explained that Chip's willingness to take risks and step out in faith allowed her to experience God in a whole new way: "God had a funny way of bringing me Chip, to almost have this reality of what it's like to follow Christ, which is a lot of things are going to push you to a place of discomfort; a lot of things are going to push you to place of freaking out.... I don't want to be in a box anymore, I don't want to play it safe...because where the impact is, is over here on the other side."
She continued: "My walk with God when I was little, all the way up to my 20's, was always, 'Play by the rules, and you'll be blessed.' But then I met Chip, and I feel like now it's, 'When you take a step out in faith, when it makes absolutely no sense, I think that's where the greater reward is. There's no telling where that will take you...I was made for a reason, and I need to let whatever God has created me for, that needs to be known, I don't need to stay hidden."
Chip and Joanna, who have four children together, are currently promoting their new book, The Magnolia Story, which, according to its description, offers "a detailed look at their life together. From the very first renovation project they ever tackled together, to the project that nearly cost them everything [...]."
The Gaines have been outspoken about their Christian faith before, telling the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association that they have seen how their faith has influenced viewers of their reality show.
"Our family has made a commitment to put Christ first, a lifestyle our parents modeled for us very well. They showed us how to keep our marriage and family centered around God. As for 'Fixer Upper,' we have been surprised at the impact of our faith through the show," Chip told the BGEA. "We haven't been overtly evangelical, but the rich feedback we have received on family and love all source from our faith. Jesus said the world would know His disciples by their love for one another, and we've glimpsed this in practice and strive for it every day."
As for their reality TV show, Joanna previously told ET Online that their opportunity to remodel homes on the show is a "dream come true."
"For me, it's a dream come true because at the end of the day, what we're passionate about is creating homes for families," Joanna said.
