Body Image God's Way Part 2Sample

Marvelously Made

Truth be told, I spent a lot of my life thinking my body was unacceptable. I felt like it was unacceptable to me, to everyone else, and even to God. There were so many mixed messages that I let myself believe, and one was that because my body didn’t fit the cultural standard, it was simply not good enough. Right?

Totally wrong.

God is not like everyone else. He cares more about what’s happening on the inside. He doesn’t approve or disapprove with the same system that the world does. He wants us to flourish and to experience the abundance of His Spirit living inside of us so that we can overflow with love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness! Every fruit of His spirit is available to us as we make room for Him in our hearts and in our lives.

But here’s the thing. He also cares about our bodies. But not in the way we think.

And that’s where we tend to get confused. We’re so used to the standard by which the world judges our bodies that we have a hard time seeing ourselves in the verse that declares us “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14, ESV). We don’t see ourselves as deserving of that. So we stay in a cycle of self-loathing and assume that our bodies are no good. Which, by the way, also affects our soul.

That is a trick of the enemy.

If we continue in a cycle of self-loathing, then we won’t operate in the fruit of His Spirit, which allows us to make an impact for the Kingdom of God.

But today I want to invite you to consider this verse from The Message:

“Body and soul, I am marvelously made!” (Psalm 139:14)

Body and soul. They both matter. And they are both marvelously made by a very good God. So instead of trying to mute our attention to either one, maybe we start to embrace them both as a gift from God and allow Him to teach us how to live peacefully and freely in that truth.

I just wonder what would change if we truly believed we were marvelously made. What would happen if we let this truth sink into every crevice of our heart? What would change in our confidence level? In our mindset. In the way we show up for whatever God has called us to.

Carry this as your mantra today: “Body and soul, I am marvelously made!” And allow God to transform your heart accordingly!