I’ve noticed there’s a
lot of “stuff” on social media about body image. It seems that there’s a fight
for making what was once thought as fat and ugly, become curvy and beautiful. I
don’t like to get involved in those kinds of discussions, because, honestly, I
know when I’m overweight and I don’t think I look and feel great when I am. And where MY body image is concerned, that's all that matters.
Living in West Africa
for as long as I have, I look at a lot of social media with a different kind of
filter. When I return from the states having put on the “home assignment 15,”
all of my African friends tell me how much more beautiful I’ve become because
of it. (For those of you that have attended university in the US, you know the
expression “freshman 15,” implying that many young people in their first year
gain 15 lbs… well, that happens to those of us overseas workers that go
stateside for a few months, too!)
Personally, I think
that healthy is beautiful. Eating good foods, exercising, drinking lots of
clean water and getting good rest makes for a healthy body. There’s no need to
follow a strict diet plan to get skinny. I know this and the Lord knows I know
this, so I don’t have any excuse, really, to put on 15 lbs while I’m stateside.
So, this is me, making another confession. Some of the clothes I left here
don’t fit me now, so I need to get my butt moving again.
Why is it important to
be healthy? Is it to boost our self-esteem? Is it to impress others? For us
that follow Jesus, the reason should be so that we can follow Him in obedience
however, wherever, and whenever He calls us to a task. This is why eating right
and exercising are important to me. I need to be fit for His service.
Also, as a wife, of
course I want to be beautiful for my husband. That is another thing altogether.
As a woman who desires to be a Proverbs 31 type woman, I don’t want laziness
about how I look to be a deterrent to a healthy marriage. There are some
feminists that see this as bowing to a man in some way. I don’t believe that’s
true. In Romans 14 it talks about, in the body of Christ, we should avoid doing
things that could cause our brothers and sisters in Christ to stumble. Of
course, I’m not saying that if my husband is unfaithful, it is my fault. That
is preposterous! But, just as I wouldn’t take my sister in Christ to a bar that
struggles with alcohol or speak negatively about the future with someone that
struggles with depression, I want to do everything in my power to bolster my
husband, as my brother in Christ, in his walk with the Lord.
I’m not trying to be
skinny. With my body-type, I’ve come to understand that the super-model look is
not going to happen (plus, I’m 45 years old!). But, I am trying to be
intentional about how I treat my body so that I’m at my best: first, for the
Lord; and second, for my husband… and really, for me, too. I know that when I’m
healthy, physically, that the rest of me “feels” so much better. I certainly
haven’t arrived and the struggle will continue for the rest of my days (however
long that is), but knowledge, then action according to knowledge can accomplish
a lot.
I don’t say any of
this to put anyone on a guilt trip. I just want to encourage those of you on
the same path I am. We fall down, we get back up. That is just life. We can do
this, like everything else, through Christ who strengthens us.
Ultimately, body image is just how you feel about your body. But, how you feel does not define who you are. Other people's view of you does not define who you are. In Christ, you are a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). And, when you falter, and sit and eat a bag of chips instead of work out and/or eat a salad, "God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work." 2 Cor. 9:8 NKJV. God doesn't condemn you, and you shouldn't condemn yourself. There IS NO condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, even those who are struggling with getting healthy.
Ultimately, body image is just how you feel about your body. But, how you feel does not define who you are. Other people's view of you does not define who you are. In Christ, you are a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). And, when you falter, and sit and eat a bag of chips instead of work out and/or eat a salad, "God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work." 2 Cor. 9:8 NKJV. God doesn't condemn you, and you shouldn't condemn yourself. There IS NO condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, even those who are struggling with getting healthy.
So, if you'd excuse me, I’ve got an
exercise video to start (*puts down the Pringles can and walks away...).
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