Branch On The Vine

By: Alli Matthews

Who else finds themselves worrying a little (or a lot) extra about their body and appearance during the holiday season? 

This blog post feels a little more vulnerable than what I’m normally comfortable with sharing. However, I know that body image can be challenging for so many people – and not just women. I’m going to tell you my story and how God is redeeming this struggle in my life. 

I remember the first time that I perceived my stomach “looking big” was in first grade. I was a six-year-old child wearing a bright, yellow shirt and playing on our school’s playground with my first ever crush and my brother. I was up on a green climbing structure at the highest point. I looked down and saw my belly sticking out and suddenly felt embarrassed by it. I think I even sucked in a little. 

Thankfully, body image wasn’t a life-altering problem for me as I progressed through elementary, middle, and high school. Praise the Lord that it never led to an eating disorder. It wasn’t something that I worried about constantly. It was more like a little insecurity that popped up when I put on a bathing suit. 

It was more of a comparison and envy issue. If I was swimming at a lake with my family, I felt no insecurity. However, if I was swimming with friends who were thinner than me, I suddenly felt like I was bigger than I should be. I longed to be “skinny” like her or have straight hair like her or whatever else like her.

When I studied abroad, my body changed a lot in one semester. I gained some weight due to increased alcohol intake and decreased exercise. That was when I realized how much I feared gaining weight. I realized that up until that semester I had been working out intensely and eating daily salads throughout college to try to maintain the same body I had in high school. On the outside, it had looked like I was living healthily but I was doing these things with an unhealthy mindset. 

It wasn’t until I was in PA school that I started learning about what God thinks about body image and started viewing my body differently. It was another season in which I wasn’t eating the best and didn’t have time to exercise every day. Additionally, my acne took a turn for the worst as my stress levels increased. At the same time, I was learning about what makes someone “healthy” versus “skinny”. 

Sometime during PA school, I read the book 1 Samuel for the first time in the Bible. One of the verses that stood out to me the most was in Chapter 16 when God was instructing Samuel on which man would become king someday. “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’” (1 Samuel 16:7). 

Our world loves to glorify people’s bodies. However, God values our character. 

Another time, I listened to a podcast that described insecurity about body image being a sin issue. To worry about one’s appearance to the degree that our culture pushes us to is a form of self-centeredness. 

Ouch. That wasn’t fun to hear. 

As a reminder, sin is actively or passively falling short of God’s standard. This was an example of passive sin in my life. I didn’t even recognize that my worries about my appearance were so out of bounds of the abundant life God has for me. I just thought it was part of being a human. 

But Jesus talks about this worry about our bodies in Matthew 6. He says, “‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes’” (Matthew 6:25)? 

Then, he gently instructs us about what to focus on instead later in the passage, “‘So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’” (Matthew 6:31-33). 

Instead of worrying about our bodies, Jesus calls us to prioritize seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness. 

He calls our attention off of ourselves and instead toward growing in our relationship with himself.

If Jesus tells us not to worry about our bodies, we probably shouldn’t do it. I share that not to make you feel ashamed when you struggle with feeling unattractive but instead to encourage you that this is NOT how it is supposed to be and that Jesus can redeem you from this struggle. 

Now that you know why worrying about your body is a problem, let’s discuss some solutions. I’m going to share two things that God has taught me during PA school that has helped me overcome my struggle with body image. 

I’m not going to lie – I still struggle with body image. However, because of Jesus’ redemptive power in my life, it is no longer something that controls me. I am free from the slavery of anxiety about my appearance. I am free to focus on what is most important – loving God and loving the people he has put in my life. 

I hope these two practices help you release this struggle to the Lord. Invite him in because you too can be redeemed and set free through his power and strength.

Alright, let’s jump in.

1. Thank God for the body he gave you.

“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 139:14).

As I’ve said before, when we thank God for who he is, what he has done, and all that he gives us, he softens our hearts and increases our joy. 

When I start feeling insecure about how my body looks, I start thanking God for the way he made me. I learned this trick while taking Accutane to try to cure my acne. Although the drug cleared my skin to a level which I had not experienced since before puberty, it left my skin very dry and sensitive. All of my skin. And I still had break-outs of acne which felt even worse than before because I was now used to having “perfect” skin.

God gave me a nudge, a reminder that my goal should never be to have “perfect” skin or hair or anything related to my appearance. He taught me to instead be grateful for what I have and content with what I already look like.

That’s when I began thanking God for my skin. I would lay my hands on my face (after washing them, of course) and thank God for the function of my skin. I would thank him that it protects my body from infection, the sun, and the cold. 

This helped me to not dislike my skin. Through prayer, God helped me to see my skin how he sees it: both beautiful and functional. 

I started laying my hands on other parts of my body when I felt insecure about them – my stomach, my legs, even my arms – and thanking God for making them the way he did. I have been doing it often the last few days to help me be thankful for my body instead of letting insecurity rule in my heart and mind this Christmas season.

2. Make healthy choices to steward the body God gave you.

I’m encouraging you to make a small mindset shift that can lead to a huge impact on your faith and health journey. 

As followers of Christ, we are not trying to be healthy so that we will be more attractive in the eyes of humans. We are trying to be healthy as an act of gratitude for the body God has given us and to help our bodies function as well as possible to serve him.

Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” 

Eating healthy foods, exercising, and taking care of your mental health are all forms of worship if you are doing these things to glorify God. 

Additionally, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “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.” 

Does this mean God doesn’t want you to eat anymore Christmas cookies? NO! It means that overall, we should be striving to live healthy lives for him, not daily over-indulging on foods and drinks like our culture and marketing strategies encourage us to do.

Wrapping It Up

To conclude, God created you in his image and loves you so much. He wants what is best for your body and mind. He wants you to share all of your struggles with him – no matter how big or small they seem in your eyes.

Through thanking God for your body and choosing to live healthily for him, you can turn away from worrying about your body. You can repent of that and experience God’s grace that covers and redeems every imperfection and sin. You and I will never have perfect bodies on this earth, but with the help of our Lord, we can learn to be content with and grateful for what he has given us, allowing us to live our lives to the fullest in Jesus.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10