If someone were to ask you what God thinks about bodies, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
It might surprise us to learn that God has a very affirming view of the body, which is often different from our perspective.
Before we get there, I really like the following two quotes because I think they add to what I’ll reference below.
“The way we view our bodies is a deeply spiritual issue because our bodies are made by God, in the image of God, and they are where we encounter God for now. What’s more, the belief that body image is just a shallow concern is a lie from the enemy that’s wildly effective at making women believe they can disconnect with their bodies to the point of engaging in starvation, harm, and abuse — all because we have agreed that our bodies aren’t spiritual.” – Jess Connolly, Breaking Free From Body Shame
What I think Jess is getting at is that how we view and take care of our bodies matters. Our bodies are not the most important part of us, but they are important. As embodied people, they are where we experience God and others. They’re how we live out our gifts and talents. How we spread the good news. It’s hard to do much of anything when we’re tired, extremely hungry and distracted by food and body image thoughts.
“Christianity is almost the only one of the great religions which thoroughly approves of the body — which believes matter is good, that God Himself once took on a human body, that some kind of body is going to be given to us in Heaven and is going to be an essential part of our happiness, our beauty and our energy. – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
I love that C.S. Lewis is affirming the significance of the body. Not only that, he’s also agreeing that our bodies were made and called good from the start. The first scripture I reference will expand on that more.
GENESIS 1:27, 31 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them…and God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
In the very first chapter of the bible, we see God create everything and call it good, including humans made in the image of God. As people made in the image of God, we have this inherent dignity and goodness when it comes to our bodies.
Everything changes with the fall when the enemy comes to us with a lie, which leads to the redefinition of good and evil.
PSALM 139:13-16 MSG “Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.”
This scripture points to the idea that God made your body with care & intention. He knows every intricate detail of it. How does this impact how we live in and take care of our bodies?
1 SAMUEL 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
I love this verse because it alludes to the difference in the world’s value versus what God values. The world tells us that our appearance is an indication of our goodness, worth and value. God turns things upside down when he says “The Lord sees not as man sees.” Sheesh what a good reminder.
Rooting for you,
Alyssa
One Response
An interesting discussion is definitely worth comment. I do think that you need to write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people do not discuss these subjects. To the next! Best wishes!!