LOVE Every Pound of You
"....You shaped me first inside, then out; You formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you, High God--You're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration--what a creation!" [Psalm 139:13-14 MSG]
I read this KNOWING what I'm supposed to believe about myself, yet thinking "yeah, yeah, yeah....but if He wouldn't have made so MUCH of me!"
I am wearing an inside-out tank top with my office attire this morning. It says "This body is some body," a phrase coined by Refit®. My shirt is inside out because its black with bright white and yellow lettering and not appropriate for work. Isn't it also, though, representative of what I just read in Psalms? Words I NEED to KNOW today. First, He created my inside self, then the outside. He made THIS body SOME body!
I became a fitness instructor in 2009 to prove something to myself--THAT I COULD. Two fitness formats later, I am not currently leading classes, but I know that I am capable.
I love the outdoors, the mountains, in particular. If you've read my blogs previously then that theme is often evident. I go there and feel my body completely relax, and my soul closer to God's presence than anywhere else in the world. I go to the mountains when I need to see Him. I look at His magnificent creation and feel wonder-struck by its beauty.
And then, with those very same eyes, I look in the mirror, and feel disgust.
How often do we express complete dissatisfaction with ourselves-the very being He created us to be? We forget He created our flesh and bones just as He created mountains, streams, oceans and wildlife. He created US. Beautiful, marvelous, intricate US.
A few weeks ago, I stepped on the scale, and upon seeing what I had suspected--a weight gain of 13 pounds, I made a choice. While I had made less-than-healthy choices for my body, and was being proven the consequences, I had freedom to make a really important choice in that very moment.
Do I hate my body for what my brain has done to it?
Or do I embrace it, and love EVERY POUND?
If I am cut, I bleed. If I fall down, I bruise.
"Fat" me or "Skinny," this created being still reacts the same.
Who am I to condemn the body that Emmanuel has chosen to dwell in? It is created in His image, to be a home to His Spirit, and given the gift of dominion over ALL THINGS, even those beautiful mountains that I spend such precious time in.
We should love and cherish EVERY pound. Not just the ones we wish we had less of. We need to give Him EVERY pound, not just the ones later on, when there are fewer of them.
Every ounce of our being is His. He is the air we breathe. Our lungs rise and fall, because He fills them with oxygen. Our heartbeats change because He created them to react.
I take poor care of this part of His creation, the ME part. I need to treat it with love and respect and dignity, and yes, adoration. I need to look at it and be wonder-struck by its very ability to exist on this planet. And I need to LOVE it. Love it because it is found worthy of His dwelling. Take good care of it because I love it.
Rachel Hollis says there are two things we have control over every day--What we know and how we look. This thump to my stubborn brain helped me realize that this body is worthy of my affection. ALL OF THE TIME. What I know is that this body was known before I knew it. What I know is that is is amazing and that He deserves praise for making it! What I know is that I don't cherish and love it.
Stop it, right now. Stop self-shaming, self-hating, self-judging. It doesn't matter what the scale says or what the size on the tag in your new dress says. What matters is that you OWN this body, and you need to LOVE it, and you should look like you do! We do have some say in how we look!
I don't know what that means for you. For me, it means not looking into the mirror with disgust. It means gently running my fingertips across my protruding abdomen and saying I love you. It means buying three cute outfits for work instead of looking like a frumpy old woman. It means dressing like someone who believes she is pretty, and spending time at the thrift store finding clothes that say it. It means taking a shower and smelling good. It means brushing my hair. It means loving every single pound of me.
You might not believe it when you first make that choice. But just keep looking in that mirror and saying "I love every pound of you. You are breathtaking! What a creation!"
I read this KNOWING what I'm supposed to believe about myself, yet thinking "yeah, yeah, yeah....but if He wouldn't have made so MUCH of me!"
I am wearing an inside-out tank top with my office attire this morning. It says "This body is some body," a phrase coined by Refit®. My shirt is inside out because its black with bright white and yellow lettering and not appropriate for work. Isn't it also, though, representative of what I just read in Psalms? Words I NEED to KNOW today. First, He created my inside self, then the outside. He made THIS body SOME body!
I became a fitness instructor in 2009 to prove something to myself--THAT I COULD. Two fitness formats later, I am not currently leading classes, but I know that I am capable.
I love the outdoors, the mountains, in particular. If you've read my blogs previously then that theme is often evident. I go there and feel my body completely relax, and my soul closer to God's presence than anywhere else in the world. I go to the mountains when I need to see Him. I look at His magnificent creation and feel wonder-struck by its beauty.
And then, with those very same eyes, I look in the mirror, and feel disgust.
How often do we express complete dissatisfaction with ourselves-the very being He created us to be? We forget He created our flesh and bones just as He created mountains, streams, oceans and wildlife. He created US. Beautiful, marvelous, intricate US.
A few weeks ago, I stepped on the scale, and upon seeing what I had suspected--a weight gain of 13 pounds, I made a choice. While I had made less-than-healthy choices for my body, and was being proven the consequences, I had freedom to make a really important choice in that very moment.
Do I hate my body for what my brain has done to it?
Or do I embrace it, and love EVERY POUND?
If I am cut, I bleed. If I fall down, I bruise.
"Fat" me or "Skinny," this created being still reacts the same.
Who am I to condemn the body that Emmanuel has chosen to dwell in? It is created in His image, to be a home to His Spirit, and given the gift of dominion over ALL THINGS, even those beautiful mountains that I spend such precious time in.
We should love and cherish EVERY pound. Not just the ones we wish we had less of. We need to give Him EVERY pound, not just the ones later on, when there are fewer of them.
Every ounce of our being is His. He is the air we breathe. Our lungs rise and fall, because He fills them with oxygen. Our heartbeats change because He created them to react.
I take poor care of this part of His creation, the ME part. I need to treat it with love and respect and dignity, and yes, adoration. I need to look at it and be wonder-struck by its very ability to exist on this planet. And I need to LOVE it. Love it because it is found worthy of His dwelling. Take good care of it because I love it.
Rachel Hollis says there are two things we have control over every day--What we know and how we look. This thump to my stubborn brain helped me realize that this body is worthy of my affection. ALL OF THE TIME. What I know is that this body was known before I knew it. What I know is that is is amazing and that He deserves praise for making it! What I know is that I don't cherish and love it.
Stop it, right now. Stop self-shaming, self-hating, self-judging. It doesn't matter what the scale says or what the size on the tag in your new dress says. What matters is that you OWN this body, and you need to LOVE it, and you should look like you do! We do have some say in how we look!
I don't know what that means for you. For me, it means not looking into the mirror with disgust. It means gently running my fingertips across my protruding abdomen and saying I love you. It means buying three cute outfits for work instead of looking like a frumpy old woman. It means dressing like someone who believes she is pretty, and spending time at the thrift store finding clothes that say it. It means taking a shower and smelling good. It means brushing my hair. It means loving every single pound of me.
You might not believe it when you first make that choice. But just keep looking in that mirror and saying "I love every pound of you. You are breathtaking! What a creation!"
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