Seeing Ourselves The Way God Sees Us

Summer is JUST around the corner! Can you believe it? I feel like in Michigan we’ve skipped spring this week and went straight to summer. Anyone else feel that way where you live?

With the nice weather, we’ve been outside a whole lot more, playing ball, taking walks, all the things. At one point I mentioned to Mazy how I’d love to be able to go on a run, but I think those days are long gone. Mazy stopped, looked at me puzzled, and asked shockingly, “Mom, you used to RUN?” At first I was a bit shocked that SHE was so shocked because to her, I apparently don’t come across as someone who used to run :), but it also made me realize how much has changed since she was born.

This body has been through a lot.

Even though I was in much better shape back in the day, I can’t say I was any more comfortable in my body. Something was always “wrong” with it. There was always something I didn’t like about it. I’d look in the mirror and tell myself that it just wasn’t quite what I was wanting it to look like. And those internal thoughts didn’t do me any good.

The older I get the more I’ve been trying to teach myself that I need to view my body in a different way. Even though I still enjoy walking to try and stay active, I am learning to not do it to look a certain way, but to strengthen my body to do what it needs to do, like play with Mazy, fight heart disease, and simply take care of the temple God has given me, in my body.

When I think about what this body has gone through, IVF (though I didn’t actually carry a child because of the gestational carrier process), having a child, 3 open heart surgeries, numerous other procedures, and most recently, this body has fought cancer. And it’s still fighting heart failure. It is mind-boggling what the body can do.

We need to appreciate our bodies not only for what they look like, but for what they can do. It has been a mind-shift for me and one I am continually working on. It is good to appreciate the features God has given us in our bodies because he designed them to be specific to us. But we also need to appreciate what they can DO. Sometimes Dan will ask me if something looks good and I will tell him, you can wear anything if you wear it confidently. Well, I need to eat my own words – I need to “wear” my body confidently and realize what it has done and what it has yet to do.

God says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139) and that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6). We need to honor God with our bodies, which does mean taking care of them. But in doing so, it doesn’t mean we need to strive to look a certain way. That’s our world feeding us a lie, that looking a certain way is how we are supposed to look. We can honor God with our bodies by thanking him for what He’s allowed our bodies to do and taking care of what he’s given us. It’s going to look different for everyone. No pun intended.

Mazy may be surprised that I used to run (I guess I’d rather call it jogging). I guess when I look back, it’s hard to believe I used to be able to do that too, after all this body has been through. But the idea I want to raise her with is that it’s not about what our bodies look like, but about what they can do. The first leads to insecurity and self-focus, where the latter encourages gratitude, humbleness, and appreciation.

How do you view yourself? Do you praise God for your body? Do you appreciate it as much as God does? Do you see it as a gift from God?

May we see ourselves the way God sees us.