If God could change one thing about the way you look...He wouldn't

I heard an interesting segment on the radio a few weeks ago. A group of adults were asked to name one thing they would change about themselves if they could. They said things like:

"Only one?"

 

"Well, I would change my forehead. It's really big."

 

"I would change my ears, they're huge."

 

"I would change my skin. It's always breaking out."

And then they asked a group of children the same question and the kids said:

 

"I'd like to have a mermaid tail."

 

"I want a shark mouth so I can eat a lot."

 

"I'd like to have cheetah legs so I can run fast."

 

"I really like my body. I wouldn't change anything."

 

 

I thought it would be easier as I got older. I thought that I would become more comfortable in my own skin. I figured it was just junior high and high school kids who dealt with insecurities. But I've come to find out that growing older doesn't eliminate your insecurities, it increases them. And I think you'd be hard pressed to find a woman of any age who would say, "I love my body. I can't think of a single thing I'd change." It only takes a few years from wanting a mermaid tail until you want a new set of legs because you think yours aren't the right size or shape. I'm not sure how that transition happens, I just know that, inevitably, it does.

 

But who told us that? Who told us that our bodies aren't good enough the way they are? It seems like we're trying to fight back against society's idea of photo shopped beauty and say, "Hey women, don't be ashamed of who you are. Beauty comes in all shapes, colors, and sizes." We love the idea of trying to love ourselves for who we are, but we don't know how to do it. Yet long before Dove started their campaign of "Love the Skin You're In," King David said, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." (Psalm 139:13-14). Dove isn't tell us something we don't already know. It's just something we don't believe.

 

But if we listened to the bible, if we really believed what it said, we might think differently about ourselves. Fearfully made. Wonderfully made. Notice David didn't say, "You made me good enough. You could have done a few things better, but this will work." Because God's works are wonderful. If you look back in Genesis, everything God made was deemed good upon its creation. If God created our inmost being and knit us together in our mother's womb, then we are good. We are good in the skin we came out in. We are intentionally designed. We aren't flawed or defective. We aren't mishaps. Each one of us has passed the inspection. Each one of us is good enough.

 

True beauty comes from within. It's not based on our outward appearance. That's what God's word says (1 Peter 3). If we believe God's word is truth, then we must believe all of it is truth. And if God's word doesn't change, then neither does His definition of beauty. Because if God wanted you to look a certain way, He would have made you that way. But for whatever reason, He made you... you. On purpose. Not so that the world would love you. Not so that you'd be popular and famous and the object of everyone's affection. He made you to be you so that you would bring Him glory. That's why you're here.

 

"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