I was standing in front of the mirror, examining a new swimsuit I bought online when a few small feet jumped into the bathroom and instinctively took my towel to cover my body. I wish I could say it was out of modesty, but the truth is that my desire to hide was born of shame, my body, the one that led me to so many adventures, still embarrasss me.
Because my twins were small, I was determined never to hear myself complain about my body. As I spent my nights wiggling my babies, whispering promises about creating a safe space for them to honor the bodies God had given them, I did not know how many times I, your own mother, would break that promise.
- And yet.
- As I studied the theology of personification.
- I realized that our bodies are gifts.
- As Gregg Allison writes.
- “Being made in the image of God implies the personification of the bearers of this image.
- It is the human incarnation.
- Therefore.
- According to the divine In other words.
- Being an image bearer requires a body.
This means that some of the things I hate are part of God’s good plan.
Bodies are created by a good God for their good purposes, and although these bodies, like the rest of the world, are affected by the fall, God uses them for their glory and our good. While we await the return of Christ, here are three ways. affirm God’s good plan for our bodies and convey a healthy body image to our children.
It is tempting to compare our bodies to the images presented to us by our culture, but the great scripture story tells us a better and truer story. Here are some truths that need to reshape our thoughts:
In light of the passages above, we must actively teach our children our bodies and our beauty.
For example, when defining the beauty of our children, do we start with it?Me inside? (1P 3. 3?4). When our children are kind, generous, kind, or forgiving, we let them know how beautiful they are. When our children have fun, we emphasize how bright their joy shines. When we see our friends glorify God through generosity, forgiveness, and fidelity, we proclaim that they bring beauty to a destroyed world.
At the same time, we must not escape aesthetics. When a friend comes to our house and looks good, we congratulate him. When our family or friends laugh, we comment on the beauty of their smiles. When our children play football, we say that God has made his legs strong, beautiful, and fast. As they prepare for a special event, we emphasize how beautiful they are. In ordinary times, when we are impressed by the beauty of God created them, we say to them in the hope that Our words will be true when the world tells them a different story.
While the world around us claims beauty, the Christian family has the opportunity to save it. We can present our children with eyes to see beauty in others, recognizing how others reflect God’s goodness.
We recognize that our bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost (1Co 6. 19) and therefore we care for them as gifts of our Creator, we do not mourn our hair, our eyes, or our size, but we say words of thanks to our Creator God for the way he has done it with each of us exclusively. And when our bodies fail us, we plan our resurrected bodies that we will one day have (1C 15).
We set an example for our children by taking care of our bodies. This means that we struggle with the obsession with food or exercise; on the contrary, we take care of our bodies in the right way our body needs. This means that we choose rest over hyperproductivity. We choose the balance over obsession. We choose self-discipline and sanctification over lust, greed, and laziness, and we depend on God’s help for all these things, recognizing that we are finite creatures.
We measure the value of our bodies, not by their ability or function, but by seeing our bodies and that of others as beautiful, because we were created in the image of God and were designed for our good and glory.
My body has brought children into this world. He survived the trauma, stayed with his friends so that they would not be alone, wrote countless words on the pages and even ran marathons, and although my body has visible signs of falls and deteriorates with every passing day, it is always beautiful because it reflects God’s goodness in this world.
So instead of being embarrassed when my children look curiously at what the world would call “problem zones,” I hope to direct them toward God, the wonderful Creator who will do all things new, including my body.