Body Image (1)

Contentedly situated in lawn chairs with our toes in the sand and the baby playing on a blanket at our feet, my friend and I watch her girls digging holes or running between the beach and the lake. Periodically, the girls run up to us to display the shells and rocks they've found. At one point, as the girls surround us, one of us adults comments on the baby being chubby (which she is, as a baby should be) after which one of the girls looks at me and says, "you're kind of chubby."

She wasn't trying to be rude or smart, she was just being bluntly observant as children are. As I looked at I her and considered an answer, I thought of the baggage of body image that women have carried for generations, and I thought, I don't want her to carry this baggage too. I want better for her. 

I replied, "you know, being a little chubby is actually a good thing. Our bodies function better and it helps keep us warm."

This deep lesson was probably lost on her as she shrugged and said "ok" and then ran back to her sandcastle. 

But it has made me think. 

Regardless of what you look like, its very possible that you carry some baggage around your body. Some of us have been on diets since before we hit puberty, some of us have longed for curves while others long to be less curvy. We have heard comments about our bodies our entire lives and those comments have formed our beliefs about ourselves. The problem is that very often those comments do not reflect the truth of what is good or healthy. Obsession with food and exercise, eating disorders of eating too little or too much, and overall lack of gratitude are all very common place. We have grown up with all of this being so normal that we don't even realize how much it has affected us or that there is another way.

Instead of asking the question "how can I get my body look like _____?" we should be asking "how can I be healthy so I can do all that God asks me to do?" Everything we do for the Lord we do in our bodies. Nowhere in the Bible does God dictate what our body type or weight ought to be, He simply says "I know your frame" (Psalm 103) and "honour Me with your body" (1 Corinthians 6:20).

He knows your frame. He knows how He specifically made you and it is no accident that your frame is different from someone else's. He has given you a specific frame so that you can serve Him. So how can you serve the Lord with the body He has given you? 

What does health look like? 

As a very basic starting place, health looks like gratitude. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving me a body, for giving me life, and for giving me a body and a life that are designated for the high purpose of worship and service to You. You know my frame, you know I'm dust, so please help me worship and serve You with all You've given me, including this body.

Maybe, before you go any farther, you need to thank God for the body He's given you. Maybe the lies that have bound you for years need to be destroyed by every day saying thank you to the Lord for your body. Your body is a good gift. Say it again, "my body is a good gift. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for this gift."

Maybe your body is sick and in your sickness you can point to the Healer. Maybe your body isn't sick but its hard to serve the Lord because you are undernourished or your inexperience with exercise makes it hard to move, you can serve the Lord by caring for this body by feeding it properly or moving intentionally.

Because our education pertaining to our bodies has been designated to scales and sizes we have lost sight of the fact that our bodies are His, they are for Him. The good news is that Jesus can set you free from the lies you are burdened by and He can protect the next generation from these same destructive lies. 

I want the generation after us to run and jump and play and lift weights and eat their vegetables and meats and fruits and bread to the praise of God, thankful for the bodies He has give them. I want them not to bother with the scale because they sleep well and work hard and can do the things God sets before them. I want them to live in freedom in the service of the Lord. And I want the same for you. 

You are not free to serve the Lord when you are consumed with thoughts about your body. You are not free to serve the Lord when you are consumed with an eating disorder. You are not free to serve the Lord when you are consumed with thoughts about food. You are not free to serve the Lord when you unable to move because you live a sedentary life. You are not free to serve the Lord when you are constantly comparing yourself to someone else or judging someone else's body. Jesus is stronger than all these things. Jesus calls you to self-control and self-discipline in your mind and body and He is able to help you. 

For freedom Christ has set you free (Galatians 5:1). 

I think there will be another post to build on this topic, but for now, for today, thank the Lord for the body He has given you, that He has called you and equipped you to serve Him right where you are with what you have. So you are weak? He knows. Tell Him about it. He is able and willing to help you and set you free. There is freedom in surrender and gratitude. 

What I'm Reading Lately 

• American Dirt by Jeannie Cummins. This is a tasteful tale of Mexican immigrants trying to get to the US. I enjoyed it. 
• Finally finished Feminine Threads by Diana Lynn Severance. It's about women in church history. I read it a couple pages at a time before bed. 
• Your Story Has a Villain by Jonathan Pokluda. I'm listening to this one on the spiritual realm/spiritual warfare. So far, so good. You can listen on Spodify. 
• Discover Ancient Rome by Deborah Kops. This was a really helpful overview of ancient Rome (I'm doing a course on Ancient Rome for my BA.) I think its geared towards young readers, so if you have kids you might want to consider reading a couple of these books by Deborah Kops (there's a whole series) and then you can pass them on. I'd say they're good for kids age 10+.

What I'm Enjoying Lately 

• Flavoured water. I just cut up some fruit (like an orange) or use an herbal/green tea bag, or some fresh mint, plop it in a jug, fill the jug with water and then leave it in the fridge for a few hours. So fresh. 
• A bit of a slower schedule since the piano students are done for the summer. This means there's more time to work on my BA or visit with friends. 
• I'm writing a book for kids age 8-12. The rough draft is done. Now to editing. 
• Campfires 
• Roasts in the crockpot. Either for pulled pork or a beef roast. 

"God accepts your little works if they are done in faith in his dear Son. God will give success to your little works: God will educate you by your little works to do greater works; and your little works may call out others who shall do greater works by far than ever you shall be able to accomplish." Charles H. Spurgeon Encouragement for the Depressed