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PROGRAM D-7259
What did you say when you looked in the mirror this morning? Lots of us have negative eyesight. You know what I mean? We look in the mirror and all we see are the negatives:
“Oh, this hair; if only it were shorter or longer or thicker or thinner or blonde or brunette.” “Oh, this face; if I just had higher cheek bones, or could get rid of this double chin, or had a smaller nose.” “Oh, this body; if only I had longer legs, or thinner thighs, or smaller hips, or some kind of waistline!” Now, tell the truth, don’t we often tend to focus on the negatives.
In our society we’ve been led to think that the thin, shapely female body is the only acceptable one. And I don’t have to tell you the damage we’ve done to ourselves by swallowing this line of thinking. Anorexia and bulimia are two modern-day serious problems women have because of their obsessions with making their bodies acceptable.
I want to encourage you to accept the body God has given you. I think of my best friend, Fran, who is just barely five feet tall. All her life she’s been the shortest one around. But you know, God has used her size to enlarge her ministry. You see, because she’s short and cute, her appearance is rarely threatening or intimidating to anyone. It makes it easier for her to make friends and she makes friends with everybody. In two seconds she’ll have you laughing and know all about you and you’ll love her. Combined with her personality, that short statue has been a tool in God’s hands, and God uses her in very special ways. It is not a mistake that she is a very short person.
Accept the body and face and size and shape that God has given you. He has a reason and a purpose. Accept, but don’t settle. Keep that body running on all cylinders. Do everything you can to keep it healthy. Exercise as you know you should; get rid of some of those harmful eating habits. Accept your body, but don’t settle for anything less than the best it can be.
While we don’t want to get caught up in this world’s paranoid pursuit of the perfect body, we do want to be found faithful in taking care of what God has given us. Paul teaches us to bring our bodies into subjection so that we can run our race to the end and win the prize.