I have friends of all different shapes and sizes and I don’t care one iota about what they weigh or what size jeans they wear. All that matters to me is who they are inside, but I’ve noticed that many of us spend too much time lamenting the way our bodies look. We compare ourselves to airbrushed 17 year-olds and wonder why we were made the way we were. We wonder why God gave us a nose, hips, thighs, arms, etc. like He did. Some people are prone to gain weight in different parts of their bodies others gain weight all over their bodies, and some can’t seem to keep the weight on no matter how hard they try. God gave us all body types that are unique to us. We can abuse our bodies by overeating or eating foods that are just plain unhealthy for us and we can maintain a sedentary lifestyle. Doing those negative things does harm the body God gave us. Let's try to eat healthier and exercise more to take care of our bodies. But we need to first have an appreciation and love for what God created. We need to rest assured that when God looks at us HE smiles because HE made us with the characteristic HE thought would make us beautiful. The combinations are endless and HE loves them all!
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16
When we spend time worrying about what people think about us, physical characteristics, etc. we are too wrapped up in self to see the needs of others around us. When we are concerned with not being good enough we don’t step outside of our comfort zone as freely and give that smile or talk to the person who is waiting to find the love of Jesus. Satan uses our self-absorption to his advantage and keeps us from sharing God’s love and keeps us safe inside our little worlds.
Let's try to stop worrying about ourselves and concern ourselves with things that matter in eternity.
6 comments:
I just have a suspicion that you did not do this post at the local DQ sucking on a Snickers Deluxe blizzard hooked up to their WiFi on your laptop! If you did - I am upset! You did not invite me!
I think when God created me, my mother probably said: "You want me to raise that?!"
You were right on all counts. I was home nursing my 32 oz water bottle while typing this entry. When I was a kid, I used to occasionally enjoy the Hawaiian Blizzard, but now that I have to pay for them myself I don't eat them - haha. I make an attempt at living and eating healthy, but do still enjoy creating my own treats in my handy dandy blender. Of course my treats now are made from frozen fruit instead of ice cream, but they are still yummy :)
Well, your mom did an amazing job raising you and as I tell my kids, I'm glad God made you too!
Amen! Your paragraph that said, "When we are concerned with not being good enough we don’t step outside of our comfort zone as freely and give that smile or talk to the person who is waiting to find the love of Jesus... I'm not sure how I got here, but I find myself here often and forget how I'm hurting God's purpose for my life. Thanks for sharing this. I needed to hear it.
Great post.
Self-absorbtion is self-absorbtion. It all gets in the way of us being who we are meant to be.
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