How Do We Honor God With Our Bodies?

We're obsessed with the way we look, and I think it's because we tie our success, worth, and well-being to it.

I'll let you all in on a little secret... I've been working on a new project since "Pretty Girls Don't Eat Pizza" came out.

I wanted to create something that really focused on the part of my story that has gotten me through each day- my faith. One of the biggest things I learned about my condition, is that eating disorders are used as coping mechanisms for those uncomfortable, unbearable feelings.

And these aren't necessarily physical feelings, while they can be, these are the feelings that eat each human being alive.

I'm talking about the weight of feeling "unloved, unworthy, not good enough, not chosen, and ugly."

Instead of coping with those feelings in unhealthy ways, it took many years for me to find freedom in what God says. While I don't have a release date, I wanted to share an excerpt from it.

How many times are we told "it's not what's on the outside, it's what's on the inside that counts," yet everyday, we're surrounded with ads and images that promise us something through a tactic focused on appearance?

While some brands are pushing to be more inclusive for all body types to be accepted, the not so subtle suggestion that we still need to look a certain way is much louder.

We constantly see images of successful women (and men) physically looking a certain way. You know the look. The modeling industry, which inevitably is the standard and scale of beauty still silently suggests that beauty comes, primarily, in one size.

We're obsessed with the way we look, and I think it's because we tie our success, worth, and well-being to it. Have you ever seen a weight-watchers commercial for how to get bigger and stronger (ladies)?

From a young age, girls are taught to be very aware of their bodies. There is so much emphasis on a women's body and the power it has to impact her and those around her. Girls in church and public high schools are told to cover up while mainstream media suggests "loosening up."

Most sports glorify a certain body type and it's no secret that certain body types are praised more than others. I think especially for women (although I don't want to discount what men quietly go through either) our general purpose and desire as a woman banks a lot on how we look.

I spent years in high school, college and post-college depriving myself of nutrition and over-exercising because I was blaming my failures, shortcomings and losses on my physical appearance. The truth is found in Job, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away" (Job 1:21). Not being chosen by that job, person, school, friend(s), house is not a result of the way that you look. It's just a result of hoping for something that was not God's plan for you.

Trust that He is who He says He is. He is good, He loves you, and He has planned good things for you (and remember that sometimes good things don't always look good to us). When discouraging and disappointing things happen, resist what society says to do, "go and fix it." This causes stress and anxiety, and coping behaviors that are more harmful longterm than good. Instead, "Be still" (Psalm 46:10) and trust Him.

I remember wondering in my recovery journey, "Why aren't more people concerned about being healthy rather than thin?" God made everyone unique. He made each human being differently than the previous. Therefore, two bodies can look exactly the same while one is healthy and the other is not.

"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" (Psalm 139:13-14).

The same God who made the mountains in Southern Utah, made the mountains in Lynden, Washington. They couldn't look more different, but they're both magnificent. God doesn't make mistakes, and He didn't make a mistake when He created you (or wrote your story). When He looks at you, He sees a masterpiece.

Wherever you are in life, it has nothing to do with the way you look. Ladies, you are loved, chosen, worthy and enough the way you are- and nothing you do will add or take away from that.

Harming your body to make it look how you want will not change your situation- but if you realize you're enough how you are, the situation will change because you'll have a healthier perspective. Ladies, you don't need to change the shape or size of your body to be beautiful, loved and chosen. Guys, you don't need washboard abs to be loved and respected by the right godly woman.

God gave you this body to get you places, experience His creation, and house His Holy Spirit (among many other things). So take care of your body because it was a gift to you, it is enough, and it is "all together beautiful, my love" (Song of Solomon 4:8).

I'll leave you with this: When you're surrounded by messages of what to eat, how to workout, what procedures to have and products to buy, consider the body the Lord has given you. Listen to your hunger cues, the desire to rest, the longing to move, and the need to be Spiritually filled. Your body is amazing, and God designed it to tell you what you need.

Don't focus on what society says you need, focus on what God says you need. Fill your body with healthy foods and occasional joy-infused treats. Spend time moving it, and resting it. Take care of it, and keep it healthy in a way that makes you holistically healthy.

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Thanks for reading :)