Your Body Is A Temple

Sherry struggled with a negative self-image for years. She hated her body, and she always found some flaw with it. When things didn’t go well, she blamed herself. She often thought things like…

• I didn’t get the job I wanted because I’m not pretty like my sister.
  
• I’m not married because I’m not as skinny as I could be.
  
• I didn’t hear back from the editor because I’m not bubbly like my friend.
  
• I’m not talented enough to reach my dreams.
  

Can you relate to some of Sherry’s thoughts? Do you struggle with verses like the one found in 1 Corinthians? If you’re not familiar with the passage, it says…

The truth is that your body is God’s temple. In the Old Testament, God dwelled among the Jews in a tent known as the Temple. Eventually, King Solomon built a permanent temple for God where the Jews would come to praise Him.

The Temple was holy and sacred. It was set apart for worship, and it was a beautiful thing to behold. God was extremely detailed in sharing what He wanted the temple to look like, right down to the curtains! (You can read the last half of Exodus for these descriptions.)

You Are a Masterpiece

There’s no doubt about it—the Temple was special to God and the Jews. Since Paul is calling your body the Temple, you are unique to Him as well. Not just your spirit or your mind, but your body, too!

Consider Paul’s words to the Ephesians. He said,

The New Living Translation takes it a step further and uses the word masterpiece to describe Christians. It reads,

Imagine if you found the Mona Lisa—not a reprint—but the original Mona Lisa painting lying unattended in a dark alley. Now imagine it’s been damaged. It’s ripped and dirty, stained.

Despite the flaws, you’d pick it up and take it home. You’d carefully restore it because even if the world forgot, you would still understand the infinite value and beauty of this work of art.

Now know this – you are God’s, Mona Lisa. That’s right. Long before Da Vinci painted a mysterious smiling lady, God was painting your features. He chose the texture of hair you’d have and the color of your eyes. He picked where to put your cheekbones and dotted every freckle onto your body Himself.

When He was done, He stood back and whispered the same thing He always does over a new creation, “It is good.”

But I Don’t Feel like a Masterpiece!

David was born with a rare medical condition. As a result, one of his hands was deformed and shriveled. When he was a kid, his classmates teased him, and no one wanted to be his friend because he was so different looking.

To cope, David became outgoing and funny, a bit of a class clown. He found that if he could make people laugh, they weren’t as scared of him. In fact, David became a comedian full-time after graduating college.

Although David was a Christian, he struggled to believe he was a “masterpiece” or “God’s workmanship.” He didn’t understand verses like,

Sometimes, he wanted to ask, “God, did you drop a stitch somewhere? Because it sure looks that way to me!”

It’s hard to think of yourself as God’s Temple or masterpiece if you’re disfigured, suffering from an illness, or disabled. In these moments, it’s easy to believe that God may have overlooked you.

Maybe you’re even tempted to think that there wasn't enough to go around when He was handing out good things. Or perhaps you worry that your suffering is due to sin in your life or the life of a family member. 

You’re not alone in asking these hard questions. The Disciples did, too!

Created to Show His Glory

One day while traveling with Jesus, the disciples encountered a blind man. This man had been blind since birth, so he’d never gotten to see his mother’s face, never experienced the breath-taking beauty of a sunset, and never marveled at the enormity of the deep blue sea. 

When the disciples saw the man, they made a dangerous assumption. Listen to how they phrased their question to Jesus in John,

The disciples thought that because this man was different, there must have been a sin committed by him or someone who loved him. 

But Jesus has a radically surprising answer for his followers.

You see that disability, disfigurement, or disease isn’t a punishment from God. Instead, it’s an opportunity to display God’s glory. 

He may choose to display His glory by healing you completely, or He may show His glory by giving you the grace and strength to endure living in a broken body. 

God makes no mistakes. That’s a hard truth. It’s a painful one—that God would choose to allow us to suffer here on earth can leave even the most stoic of Christians aching and raw. 

It’s OK to acknowledge these difficult emotions. It’s OK to go to God with your hurts and whisper, “I don’t understand, and God, I ache from the weight of this suffering.”

Soak in Truth

Speak Love over Yourself

In addition to storing up God’s promises about you in your heart, you also want to begin speaking love over yourself. This can be difficult if you’ve never seen someone speak well about themselves.

Maybe you lived with a parent who had low self-esteem and constantly talked about their flaws. Perhaps you have a spouse who constantly belittles you and makes you feel worthless.

But consider, this loving yourself is a Biblical commandment.

Many Christians make the mistake of focusing on loving their neighbor. But that ignores the part of the command where Jesus states “as yourself.” Clearly, God wants His children to be loving towards others and toward themselves as well!

Here are a few loving thoughts you can proclaim over yourself…

Embrace Small Changes

As you begin to see your body through God’s eyes, you may be convicted of the way you’ve been treating yourself. 

Maybe God is calling your attention to the fact that you are a stress eater. Perhaps God is showing you that you’re a couch potato. Maybe He’s asking you to give up an unhealthy habit such as smoking cigarettes or drinking to the point of blacking out.

When God reveals these things to you, change may at first feel overwhelming and scary. After all, you may have been engaging in this habit for years or even decades, and the thought of doing something different sounds hard.

But remember that you have the strength of Christ on your side. That’s what Paul meant when he said,

You don’t have to make significant sweeping changes all at once in your life. Take it slow and focus on replacing one bad habit or starting a new healthy routine.

When Tony wanted to get his stress eating under control, he started tracking when he did most of it. He discovered that he was more likely to stress eat late after his day shift at the hospital.

To keep himself away from the drive-thru, he made a standing appointment with a good buddy. Each evening, the two friends would immediately leave work and do something active like playing basketball at the local Y or hiking nearby mountain trails.

Once Tony stopped stress eating, he focused on drinking more water to stay hydrated and focused throughout the day. Tony started to celebrate his body and the amazing God who created it by building on little habits.

One Step Forward…Fifteen Backward

God has opened your eyes to a bad habit. You’re determined to overcome it and start being healthier. You’re excited and pumped up. You do well for a few hours or a few days, then it happens.

You mess up.

Maybe you binged on a whole bag of cookies. Perhaps you stopped exercising regularly. Maybe you got blackout drunk again.

Now, the enemy is taunting you. He’s telling you that you’re a failure and can’t change. That you’ll never overcome your old habits. 

But consider these words from Proverbs...

When a toddler falls, you don’t assume he’s not meant to walk. Nor do you think it means that he’s a failure or dumb. You understand that he’s simply learning and that part of learning means failing sometimes.

Just like a good father is patient and lifts up the toddler who has fallen, God does the same thing when you fail. In Psalms, David proclaims,

But more than that, you have the assurance that God is faithful, even when you are not.

God will give you a beautiful new beginning at any moment in time. You need only ask Him for it.

You Are Loved Right Now

Some Christians make the mistake of thinking that if they improve their lives or their bodies somehow, God will love them more. 

While it is good to take care of yourself mentally, physically, and emotionally, it does not affect how much God loves you. He will not look at you and say, “Oh, Daniel finally got his act together. That guy is worthy now!” 

The truth is you make God happy just as you are right now. You bring joy to Him simply because you are His child. 

Consider the words in Zephaniah…

You are a masterpiece, God’s unique creation. He loves every detail of your body, from the shape of your nose to the thickness of your thighs to the sound of your laugh. You delight Him, just the way you are!

Grace and peace,

Alicia