What Story Is Your Body Telling?

Day 12 of 21-Day Sugar Fast

What do our bodies communicate about our relationship with Jesus? Alisa Keeton often reminds her listeners that our bodies tell a story. What story is your body telling to yourself, to others, and to God?

Recently I saw a meme of a woman palm pressed into her forehead and eyes closed. The caption read, “I’m PISSED I spent my skinny years thinking I was fat.”

How many of us can relate? I sure can. Personally, I wasted a lot of my time not appreciating my body, the body God gave me. Always wishing I was more this or less that. Always feeling not enough, always feeling not accepted or affirmed in the body I’ve been given.

Living my younger years constantly striving to perfect my body wore me down physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This striving to perfect how I thought I was supposed to look became a ditch I walked in.

Trying all sorts of diets and exercise programs and studying nutrition informally taught me a lot. I don’t regret any of that, but I do regret the narrative I believed about my body because it was a lie.

Now after all these years, I’m wiser for it. And I’m thankful I’ve found the truth about my body.

Accepted and Affirmed

First of all, God created us, and He thought our bodies were good. He decided how tall we would be, how big or little our bones would be, what color hair and eyes we’d have. Every detail about our body God Himself thought about and designed.

In fact, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are works of art.

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14 (NIV)

Moreover, God Himself accepts and affirms how we look because He created us. In fact, did you know, you are precious and honored in God’s sight?

In Isaiah 43:4 The Lord declares, “you are precious and honored in my sight.”

If the Lord, our Holy One, our Creator, and our King deems we are precious to Him, we are fearfully and wonderfully made, we are works of art, then we can receive His truth about our body. We can receive His acceptance and affirmation about our bodies.

Do you believe you are fearfully and wonderfully made? Do you believe you are precious to God? Do you believe you are honored in His sight?

Our Bodies are the Temples of the Holy Spirit

While I’ve enjoyed learning about nutrition, health, and wellbeing, and I’ve enjoyed exercising my body, I now know the purpose of it all. It’s not to please others or even myself with how I physically look. The purpose of pursuing good health and wellbeing is to honor God because He is the Creator of our bodies.

And as believers in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we need to know that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

“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.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)

Did you know that your body is a temple? So, how we treat our body is how we treat God’s temple, which is His created body.

What we choose to do to our body matters. While I’m not a fan of fad diets and crazy food frenzies or exercise programs to get ripped, I am a fan of healthy living because that helps keep God’s temple healthy too.

What Story Is Your Body Telling?

Through the ups and downs of my life so far, my body tells a story. Weight goes up and comes down. Honestly, sometimes I eat not-so-good food for my body. Sometimes I eat and exercise like my body matters. This 21-Day Sugar Fast has helped me reset my body and remember the purpose of what I do with my body.

Our bodies communicate what we are and Whose we are. They tell a story for sure. Look at yourself and ask, what story is my body telling? Is my body communicating I am honoring my Creator? Am I treating my body with respect? Am taking good care of this body that the Lord has given me?

We are beautifully made. We are precious to God. Our bodies are His temple. Pursuing healthy living then is an act of obedience to the One who created us. What story is your body telling about all that truth?

Challenging ourselves from time to time, like doing a fast, helps us remember the truth about our body, our Lord, and how we are honoring Him with our body.

My hope is that for all the rest of my days on this earth that I will remember my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and treat it as such. I hope the ending to the story of my body will be honoring and pleasing to my Maker.

What story is your body telling? If it’s not the story you want, seek Jesus and ask Him to lead you how to honor Him with your body.