You Don’t Have to Love Your Body

I stared at the mirror in utter disgust and frustration.

Why do I only feel hatred and despair when I look at myself? Am I really as ugly as I look? Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Does any part of me look good? Why do I bother running for 30 minutes every day, doing ab workouts six days a week, and eating boring salads if I always hate the body that I see in the mirror?

I was listening to Satan’s lie that I’d love my body if I followed his orders—his meal plan, his exercise regime, and his sleep schedule. But when I did, I still didn’t love my body.

A Fallen View of Our Bodies

The truth is that I’m a healthy size and weight. In a perfect world, I’d love my body because it’s objectively healthy. But I’m slowly beginning to see reality: In our fallen world, we may never love our bodies.

Truth be told, you’ll probably always hate at least one thing about your body. Maybe it’s your thighs, arms, stomach, hips, back, face, hair color, etc. Even models, actresses, singers, and other celebrities don’t like their bodies. I believe that the Fall is responsible for our ever-present negative thoughts and opinions of our bodies.

No matter how many minutes you walk, how many kale smoothies you drink, how small your jean size is, how many diets you attempt, or how small the number on the scale is, you’ll probably always dislike something about your body. That’s why I want to encourage you to stop pressuring yourself to love your body and instead focus on nourishing it.

In the Bible, God never says that we have to love our bodies. He simply to reveals the truth about our bodies—that they are His wonderful masterpieces (Psalm 139:14). And He told us to honor Him with them.

Glorifying God in Our Bodies

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV)

You don’t have to see a gorgeous woman when you look in the mirror. You just have to see you—flaws and all—and you have to accept what you see.

Nourishing your body is simple: Exercise well, eat well, and sleep well. Take a shower when you’re sweaty, get a haircut when your split ends are out of control, eat foods with essential nutrients, listen to your doctor, and wear sunscreen when you go outside. Don’t exercise until every bone in your body aches, don’t eat a head of lettuce for dinner, don’t pull all-nighters, don’t deny yourself dessert on special occasions, and don’t just drink soda when you’re thirsty. And so on.

I know that you think that you’ll love yourself when you _____ (lose 10 pounds, dye your hair, lift weights, start a new diet, etc.). But beauty is a vain pursuit (Proverbs 31:30). Satan can use your pursuit of the “perfect” body to exhaust (and even destroy) you.

Our job is to treat our bodies well, no matter how ugly we feel. That means not overexercising, undereating, bingeing, purging, crash-dieting, or going to any other extreme measures to make our bodies become what we want them to be. That means living in moderation and not living based on how we feel.

Friends, even if you don’t believe it, the truth is that you’re already beautiful. And your body belongs to God because He lives inside you if you’ve trusted Him as your Savior. He has called you to treat your body well and use it to honor Him. So it’s okay if you don’t love your body; just use it to glorify Hom.