Shaped

The following excerpts come from the book "Every Thought Captive" by Jerusha Clark. I haven't even finished this chapter yet...as I read these truths, tears streamed down my face and I KNEW I had to share. I don't think I know a woman who DOESN'T need to hear this.

"We accept that there are people who are tall and some who are short. Some people are beautiful blondes, others have raven black tresses, and some are gorgeous brunettes and redheads. But what about the reality that some women have tiny frames, whole others have bigger ones, or that some have small breasts and others have large ones? EACH shape is beautiful because it's God's design. Why don't we believe this?

....

I know there are some women reading this who are thinking, Maybe I WAS God's masterpiece as He originally designed me, but I have ruined my body by eating or dieting unhealthily and exercising too little [or for some, too much]. If I had my act together, I would be the right size, the size I could and SHOULD be.

This, too, is part of the lie. There is no "right" size, and there is no behavior you could engage in that would IN ANY WAY diminish your heritage as a masterpiece of beauty. Believing what God says about you actually will enable you, in the healthiest way, to take care of your body and eat with balance, freedom, and joy.

Just as the Louvre curator intently watches over and protects the Mona Lisa, so we are called to respect and nurture our bodies. But however we care or don't care for our bodies has nothing to do with the fact that we are - indisputably - God's priceless works of art. Whether we've neglected our bodies or surrendered ourselves to an obsession with being thin, we are still beautiful to Christ. Period.

And while He certainly desires for us to take care of our bodies - they are, after all, masterpieces - it's up to Him to express what that means. A tension will probably always exist between what we see as nurturing our bodies and what He sees as caring for His poeima. Because sin, the lies of the enemy, and the lies of the world have so tainted our minds, and because caring for our bodies will look different based on everyone's design (for instance, diabetic women need to exercise more and eat less sugar to stay healthy), we can never make definitive, for-all-women-at-all-times statements about what eating and exercising "right" looks like. No perfect formula for healthy living exists. There is a high likelihood, however, that you will learn that caring for your body as Christ desires does not equal looking how you think or how the world says you should look.

My husband thinks a woman should look like me. And believe me, I count myself one of the luckiest women alive. So many people fight the voices of others (parents, siblings, boyfriends, or husbands) whose hurtful comments repeatedly scream in their ears, "You cow. Nobody wants a fat girl." "You better not eat that; it'll go straight to your thighs." "Why don't you go to the gym today, honey? You ate quite a bit yesterday." I even remember one guy at my high school telling a friend of mine, who was severely anorexic, "The skinnier the girl, the better." And these lies don't come strictly from the weight-obsessed world. Far too many Christians communicate their disgust for and displeasure in the bodies of women around them.

I am so sorry and so angry for all of us who have heard these toxic messages. They are lies from the pit of hell, and every time a woman opens the fridge to binge, pushes herself beyond exhaustion by exercising, feels paralyzed by the thought of her birthday party because of all the cake that will be there, and considers herself trapped in a relationship with someone who acts as the food or fat police, I think the enemy is laughing himself silly.

Whenever someone attacks His masterpiece, God weeps for His beloved. In Christ, we have the power to resist the lies that other people, spiritual forces, or our own hurting hearts tell us. God wants us to hear, to know, to believe, to LIVE OUT our rightful destiny and design as His poeima. He aches to woo us back to His heart and to show us His exalted vision of the body and food.

When the lie comes that you are not the "right" shape or size, argue back (even if it means saying it straight to your biggest critic's face), "I am the expression of God's image. A woman is supposed to look like ME. God's masterpiece."

Will you stop with me and soak in this truth? Will you ponder it this week for as many hours as you've been assaulted by the toxic beliefs you see on TV and billboards and hear from body-loathing men and women? Spend an equal (if not more) amount of time immersed in the truth that you are lovable, acceptable, and declared worthy of happiness and fulfillment. We will recapture the joy we can have in taking care of our bodies and adorning them beautifully only when we trust that doing so does not add to our worth but merely reflects it.

In no way would I advocate abandoning the care for and enjoyment of a healthy body. But it's time to finally disregard the lie that we will be happy, accepted, and lovable when we reach the "right" weight. The question of our happiness, acceptability, and lovability was settled forever on Calvary. You are approved of and lovable. Your body type is beautiful."