You know the saying let go and let God. How many times have ever associated that with your weight or your shape or your overall health and body image??? Never, right??

God doesn’t care about our fitness regimens or how many times a week we work out. He doesn’t care that you think of a workout as a punishment because you ate all the snacks yesterday. He doesn’t care that you only ate meals in the form of liquids for two weeks to fit in a dress that you could have just bought in a bigger size. God doesn’t care if you skip a meal to lose a pound. He doesn’t care about any of this…

LIES

All Lies!

He cares about ALL of that. AND He wants to break you free from the bondage of yo-yo dieting and the misconception you have about your beautiful body. He loves every single curve.

Let me tell you why He cares.

Because your health matters. Your dress size doesn’t, but your health does.

He may not care if you are a 2 or a 16, but what He does care about is if that size 2 or 16 is a healthy 2 and a healthy 16. There is not perfect shape or size or weight. We have windows of weights based on height and body type that we can use as guides. But it’s not right versus wrong.

It’s healthy versus not healthy.

And that’s why God cares. Remember the scripture that says our body is a temple? And how He created us in His image?

Well, it’s right here, in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “19 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; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

 I think body image holds most people back.

So many people are embarrassed and ashamed of their bodies, and that’s not what God had planned for you when He was up in His workshop (i.e. Heaven) putting you together with all of your little toes and fingers, and that cute dimple on your cheek and the beautiful shape of your eyes and your cute little nose.

But we don’t think of those things when we look in the mirror. We’re not like “oh cool, my body is a masterpiece!” Instead, we just see blemishes, and He sees beauty.

As I continue down this road of personal growth and this new found understanding of body positivity and living a healthy lifestyle, I’ve been asking myself how to determine the difference between “letting myself go” and “rejecting society’s version of a perfect body”. I’ve come to the realization that there is a difference, and it’s huge.

The difference is working out because you hate your body, or working out because you love your body. It’s eating a salad because you feel like you have to, or eating veggies because you understand the health benefits. It’s losing weight to fit in that dumb dress or losing it because you know your health is important. It’s eating less junk food because it’s literally called junk, not because your magazines tell you to.

It’s also eating ice cream and not be ashamed of yourself because you know what, ice cream is super yummy and you should enjoy it from time to time if you want to!

I learned all of this when my mindset changed from being perfect to being real. And I have a whole team of people standing by my side cheering me on as I figure out what real looks like for my body. I’m haven’t let myself go, but I have let go of all the rules I used to follow because I simply don’t like rules. I don’t like my food telling me how to feel. I don’t like my goals being so ridiculous that I can’t even share them with you. And I don’t like being embarrassed by my body.

I hope this inspires someone to let go. Don’t let go of yourself. Let go of all the junk inside your head. Let go of all the shame and embarrassment. Let go of all the failed attempts of sacrificing your body to look a certain way and fit into both the dress and the crowd. And let God. Let God lead you to a healthy lifestyle. Let God use your Christian mentors and girlfriends to show you how worthy you are. You are so worthy, even worthy enough to have a healthy body image.

– the Wife

p.s. if there is a dumb ad on this page that is talking about weight loss in a superficial way, I apologize. I do not control the ads on this page, and when I previewed this post before publishing, I saw an ad about stubborn belly fat and I just cringed… I cringed because that’s not what a healthy mindset focuses on. Don’t be trapped by the captions and phrases on magazine covers and God-forbid the sometimes dumb ads…