Ok ladies, let's talk about our bodies.
I was lying in my bed earlier, thinking about life and what it has in store for me. I realized that if God gave me the chance to instantly change anything I wanted about my body, I wouldn't take it. This isn't because I believe I look like a model or am flawless by any means. I have 3 main reasons for this train of thought.
God doesn't make mistakes.
If we truly believe God to be a perfect, all-knowing God, why do we doubt Him so often? If we truly believe God to be our loving father and guide, why would we believe He would give us a worthless body? God doesn't make mistakes. He wouldn't give you just any body- He made that body *specifically* for you. Your spirit lives in that body- and that is no mistake. In the Book of Mathew, God says: "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:9-11) God is our God, but first He is our father. And what loving father would give their child a worthless, ugly gift?
It wouldn't change anything.
Have you ever thought about what happens to addicts after they die? People addicted to Alcohol, Meth, Pornography, Coffee, Sugar, Talk Shows-- anything. It is less of what happens to them, and more of what doesn't happen to them. Many (arguably most) addictions are mental as well as they are physical. So it would make sense that after they die, they would still have those cravings and suffer from withdrawals because of their inability to satisfy them. It is the same thing with changing our bodies in unnatural ways. After you get those implants or tighten those wrinkles, the craving and desire never goes away. And since your body is a fixed mass of atoms, you can only change so much. What do you do when you can't do anything else? It is a never ending cycle that will only end in self-hate and depression. No matter how much you change, you will never be happy with who you are until you learn to love yourself as you are.
We would never learn.
I was lying in my bed earlier, thinking about life and what it has in store for me. I realized that if God gave me the chance to instantly change anything I wanted about my body, I wouldn't take it. This isn't because I believe I look like a model or am flawless by any means. I have 3 main reasons for this train of thought.
God doesn't make mistakes.
If we truly believe God to be a perfect, all-knowing God, why do we doubt Him so often? If we truly believe God to be our loving father and guide, why would we believe He would give us a worthless body? God doesn't make mistakes. He wouldn't give you just any body- He made that body *specifically* for you. Your spirit lives in that body- and that is no mistake. In the Book of Mathew, God says: "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:9-11) God is our God, but first He is our father. And what loving father would give their child a worthless, ugly gift?
It wouldn't change anything.
Have you ever thought about what happens to addicts after they die? People addicted to Alcohol, Meth, Pornography, Coffee, Sugar, Talk Shows-- anything. It is less of what happens to them, and more of what doesn't happen to them. Many (arguably most) addictions are mental as well as they are physical. So it would make sense that after they die, they would still have those cravings and suffer from withdrawals because of their inability to satisfy them. It is the same thing with changing our bodies in unnatural ways. After you get those implants or tighten those wrinkles, the craving and desire never goes away. And since your body is a fixed mass of atoms, you can only change so much. What do you do when you can't do anything else? It is a never ending cycle that will only end in self-hate and depression. No matter how much you change, you will never be happy with who you are until you learn to love yourself as you are.
We would never learn.
A few summers ago, I had a terrible realization. I tried on my swimsuit and looked down to find the black plague of all flaws-- stretch marks striped across my thighs. This was of course a grave milestone for me. It was the thing that brought me face to face with something that I had been avoiding for years- I was growing up. At first I looked for quick fixes-- creams and lotions that promised to erase the marks. I then accepted the belief that the only way to rid myself of this curse was to lose any fat in that area, so my skin could shrink back to it's original size. After months of negative thoughts and self-consciousness, I finally concluded that I would just have to live the rest of my life being ugly and undesirable.
This of course is something we have all experienced. The helplessness of being unable to change the undesirable parts of ourselves, and giving into the lies of the devil that whisper "hate". But if you remember, God never teaches us to hate. No others, not ourselves. What does He teach? "..Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12;31) He does not say "love thy neighbour, but hate yourself all you want." We must love all equally- ourselves included.
If we were to instantly change ourselves every time something is undesirable or different than we believe it should be, we would never have a chance to learn to love ourselves as we are. We would constantly be chasing an imaginary ideal, only to find ourselves completely lost. God is an artist, and you are His masterpiece. Why change that? There is no ideal body- if you look throughout history this is evident. Beauty standards change even decade to decade!
Surround yourself with people who love you the way God loves you. Don't let negative thoughts hold you back from being confident in your own skin. Your body is a precious gift from God, and no beauty standard can change that.
