Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:7
Do you struggle with body image? I think we all do or have, but you can learn to be content with your body.
The first thing Adam and Eve became aware of after eating the fruit, was their bodies. They were naked. They’d always been naked, this wasn’t new but when they lived in God’s perfection, they didn’t have any knowledge or self awareness that they were nude. Eating from the tree of good and evil changed man’s body image, forever.
It doesn’t stop there. The next verse shows Adam and Eve hearing God moving about and they hide from Him. Shame and guilt enter their world. When God asks why they are hiding, the first thing out of Adam’s mouth is an explanation of being naked and needing to hide.
Were they really ashamed of their exposed skin? Was he hiding their mistake by trying to explain it away with an excuse? Maybe both.
What can we take from these scriptures? Are we supposed to be ashamed of our bodies? No, I do not see in scripture where their bodies were changed or transformed. They were still exactly how God had created them, only now evil had entered the world and the lies of satan made them aware that they weren’t covered.
We need to be content in the bodies God created especially for us. It wasn’t a mistake. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take care of our bodies. If we need to change for health reasons, by all means, do it. I need to continue to make changes for my own health reasons but I’ll be honest, I struggle with just wanting to look attractive and “cute” and that strong desire seems to over rule the health factor. I know it shouldn’t but as most women know, it does.
Our longing for perfect bodies, I believe, is our heart longing for what God originally designed. Maybe it’s not a super model body but a being that is not only healthy, but 100% satisfied and perfect because God says so. Where the essence of who we are in Him is all we see when we look at each other or into a mirror. Someday we will have that.
Until then, keep that longing in check. Your heart longs to be home with the King. The next time you are feeling insecure about your figure, I challenge you to remind yourself that what you truly want is the perfect body you will have in Heaven with Christ. Take the focus off your hips. Place it where it belongs.
But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” Genesis 3:9-10
* I posted a recent photo of myself so you can see, I’m not perfect. It’s not easy for me to post pics of myself but I can’t ask you to rethink your body image, if I’m not willing to be honest and do it myself.
Do you struggle with body image? What helped you overcome it? Or are you still struggling with it?
Blessings,
Updated 1/2/2014
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A great reminder and a beautiful picture of you! Love it!! 🙂
Blessings,
Deb
Thanks for this today 🙂 (I need to print it out and take it with me when I shop for clothes) 🙂 🙂
What an awesome post. It’s true, the enemy wants us to be preoccupied with body image, feeding us with deceitful images, making us “covet our neighbors wife”. Or our neighbor’s wife’s boob job!
“Our longing for perfect bodies, I believe, is our heart longing for what God originally designed.”
I never thought of it like that before. I believe that!
You are lovely. 🙂
You are beautiful girl, inside in out! I am trying to regain my motivation to work out. To be honest, some is to regain a better figure for this summer, but mostly because my cholesterol is high!
Thank you Stephanie! You’re so sweet 🙂 Oh that motivation is so hard to maintain, isn’t it?
We will all have a perfect body one day, a glorified body, the one that Jesus has after He resurrected. While we are in a body of sin and death, it is only temporary, like a tent until we go to our permanent home.
“Our longing for perfect bodies, I believe, is our heart longing for what God originally designed.” This is very true. That perfect body is our eternal body. The body we shall all have after our transfiguration into eternal beings in heaven. We who are created by a perfect God can only be satisfied by Him who is inexhaustible and perfect. Thank you for opening up and sharing you spiritual journey with us. God bless you!
I learned to love my body when I started appreciating it more. When I was ill with an autoimmune disorder it felt like my body was betraying me. But then I looked at myself one day in the mirror, and realized that God gave me a body to care for and to love. It belongs to me. And when I accepted her as I saw her, we could work on being better together.
Today I am strong, with soft curves. I struggle to find clothes that fit. And yeah I wish I didn’t have quite so many soft spots but my body does what we need to do. It bore a son, it does chores, it fought fires and carried lumber. It is a blessing to be able to do as I can for God.
Scars, tattoos, stretch marks and the contrast of muscles and softness makes it my own. Each wrinkle tells a story, each scar says we survived. Each spot that aches in the cold reminds me I shoulda tooken better care of myself (ha ha).
God will give me a new body one day, perfect in every way, but I hope I remember this one that got me through this life with His blessing.
Shanyn recently posted..Why I don’t ask why
Love it! I am still learning to love it and not battle myself.
It is not easy Mel, but worth it.
Shanyn recently posted..Why I don’t ask why
I too love this line “Our longing for perfect bodies, I believe, is our heart longing for what God originally designed.” When I would lament my appearance, and people would say things like “you’re fearfully and wonderfully made”, my comeback was always – it’s not the original design I have issues with, it’s what I’ve done to it since. Thanks for this post, and I appreciate Shanyn’s comments as well. This year as I focus on trust, I will also trust that God will help me trust him with all I am as he leads me toward all he’ll make me, up to an including that heavenly body 🙂
I totally understand. I’m not happy with what I’ve done with my body either. But I’m working on it and that’s what we need to be doing 🙂