“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you; whom you have from God? You are not your own…”
1 Corinthians 6:19
In moments when I don't like how I look, it is a comfort to remember I am “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14, ESV). The Lord knows every hair on my head and even my resting metabolic rate. Before I was formed in my mother’s womb, He designed my bone structure and gave me slow-twitch muscles made for long-distance sports. It is all good.
“Your works are wonderful. I know that full well” (Psalm 139:14, ESV).
Still, my negative body image is sometimes only a mask for a deeper sin -- selfishness. When my selfishness drives obsessive exercise or disordered eating, I am shaken by Paul’s admonition, “you are not your own” (1 Cor. 6:19, ESV). My days are not meant for anxious toil to keep up my form and shape. I will not stay in this 26-year-old body forever.
My body is not my own, but it is the Lord’s. This truth drives away the selfish anxiety from missing a workout and the ways my body will change during pregnancy (whenever that comes along). This truth reveals my sin and places me into the hands of my gentle Father. In confidence, I can say, “you have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness” (Psalm 30:11, ESV)!
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