Does God Care About Your Body Size?

I have this nagging sense that many followers of Jesus fear God disapproves of their body size, and that condemnation prevents them from living into their identity in Christ. Let’s break this down a little bit:

In Proverbs we read about the things the Lord hates: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness that pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

In the New Testament, we see a few examples of things that angered Jesus (this is not an exhaustive list):
Corruption (Mark 11:17)
Selfish ambition (Mark 8:31-38)
Hypocrisy & fake religiosity (Luke 11:46)

And still, I find no evidence that Jesus prefers smaller bodies over large ones. We have all grown up in a culture that prefers thinness and believes fatness an issue of laziness and lack of willpower. (Spoiler: this is false.)

Here’s the thing: I’m barely scratching the surface on this topic. But what I want you to know?

I believe Jesus cares more about what we do with our bodies — not how well they function — but how they allow us to live his mission to love others, to care for those who are suffering and to steward our resources and gifts.

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at ourward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

If you fear Jesus doesn’t love you because of your body size, remember: the Lord looks at the heart. 🤍

PS: for those who are concerned about gluttony, I will say two things: (1) to assume someone is gluttonous because of their body size is just that: an assumption and (2) to assume you know what it’s been like/what is better for someone’s body/food choices is teetering on the edge of self-righteousness/religiosity, and, well, we’ve seen how Jesus felt about that.