“Girls don’t just simply decide to hate their bodies. We teach them to.” –anonymous.
Everywhere
I look, it seems like I am bombarded with images of what a “perfect” body looks
like. Movies, magazines, and social
media are constantly spreading the lie that you have to look a certain way to
be beautiful. On top of that, years of
battling with anorexia taught me to hate anything about my body that was less
than “perfect.”
But my body was created to be so much MORE than something to look at.
For we are [God’s]
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good words, which God prepared
beforehand so that we would walk in them. –Ephesians 2:10
God
didn’t create me to serve an eating disorder.
He created me to serve Him and to serve others. To do His good words and to be His hands and
feet to people on this earth. And you
know what? He gave me a body to do just that.
So
I can either obsess over all the things I don’t like about my body…or I can
praise God for the way He created my body to serve Him…
* * *
Dear
cheeks,
I
don’t like that you are puffy and you make my face look round in photos…but I
love that you were created for Isabelle’s before-school kiss greeting. I love that you remind me of my beautiful
relationship with that sweet girl who means the world to me.
Dear
chest,
I
don’t like that I don’t have defined collar bones, which years of thinspo have
taught me to covet…but I love that you were created for Elle’s gentle hand,
resting on you as she feels my heart beat.
I love that you remind me that she trusts me to take care of her.
Dear
arms,
I
don’t like that you jiggle when I move and that I will never again see defined
muscle when I look in the mirror as I fix my ponytail…but I love that you were
created to hold my goddaughter, Mina. I
love that you remind me how important it is to watch her grow.
Dear
stomach,
I
don’t like that you aren’t flat like the pictures I see in magazines…but I love
that you were created for Edline’s fresh squeezed juice. I love that you remind me that I have a
family here in Haiti that loves me like a daughter.
Dear
thighs,
I
don’t like that you rub together beneath my skirt or that you get bigger every
time I sit down…but I love that you were created for Love to sit on my lap
during chapel. I love that you remind me
that every moment with these kids is a precious gift.
Dear
calves,
I
don’t like that you touch the back of my thighs when I lie on my stomach with my
feet in the air…but I love that you were created to dance. I love that you remind me what it means to
glorify God with my body and of the importance of sharing that truth with young
girls.
Dear
body,
I
don’t always like you. I’m sorry, but
it’s the truth. I don’t like that you
are so far from the image of perfection that I spent years burning into my
mind…but I love that you were created by a God who cares for me deeply,
passionately, and intimately. I love
that you remind me that I was created in His image.
* * *
If you are
struggling with an eating disorder, you are carrying the burden of
unattainable “perfection.” (Which by the
way, is a LIE.) Rather than carrying
that burden, I encourage you to run into the presence of your Father, who says,
“come to Me, all who are weary and
heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” -Matthew 11:28-30
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