By, Haley Shoemaker
"Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit, which are God's."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
It was the summer after my first year in college. I was told by a well-meaning doctor* to try to lose 5 pounds to see if it would regulate some numbers that came back from a blood test. This simple suggestion threw my already poor relationship with food into a tailspin.
Over the course of the next few months, I lost myself in a cloud of counting calories, extensive exercise, and deep depression. I was obsessed with thoughts about my appearance. These thoughts reached into the areas of clothing, hair, and makeup as well. If there was a day that I did not reach my unhealthy caloric or exercise goals, I would mentally beat myself up over my failure. And since I had set such unrealistic goals, I often did not reach them.
This would then throw me into an even darker mental state. I gave my mind over to the lies I told myself. “I am not skinny enough.” “Food makes me fat.” “If I run five miles a day, I will feel better.” “I have to look a certain way, to be considered pretty by anyone.” These thoughts were a part of my daily mental dialogue.
It took me years to overturn each of these lies with truth. I am not skinny enough. No, you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-14). Food makes me fat. No, food is fuel that God gave us to make our bodies operate properly (Genesis 9:3). If I run five miles a day, I will feel better. No, bodily exercise profits you little, godliness profits you far more, so focus on becoming more godly (1 Timothy 4:8). Diet and exercise have their place. They are good things when done with the right perspective.
You must remember that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, so it is good to keep it healthy and fit. However, when your physical image takes precedent over seeking godliness, you have a problem. Those things have now taken the place of God in your life. God calls that idolatry. I had to take captive the false statements that flooded my thinking and tell my mind truth instead.
So, what are the take aways from this story?
1. God has created all of us uniquely with different bodies, just as He wants us to be. Psalm 139:13-14 "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."
2. God gives us food to sustain our bodies. It is a need, but our appetite is also to be balanced. 1 Corinthians 10:31 "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
3. Exercise is healthy and can make us feel better, but it has the prerequisite of striving for godliness even through our exercise program. 1 Timothy 4:8 "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."
4. Our identity and worth should be found in who God says we are. Romans 8:14-15 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."
***Disclaimer: You should listen to your doctor’s advice. I am not saying at any point that this doctor was wrong in his instruction. Rather my response was incorrect. My perspective was already skewed prior to this story. ***
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