June 20, 2023

Genesis 3: 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked . . . (NIV)

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they immediately became ashamed of their bodies and wanted to hide. Ever since, human beings have been ‘hiding’ from each other and from God.*

Body-shaming: “the action or practice of humiliating someone by making mocking or critical comments about their body shape or size.” It’s mean. Christians should never be guilty of making fun of a person because of how he or she looks. But we all do it – to ourselves.

I don’t know why Adam and Eve’s nakedness was okay originally and then it wasn’t. The Bible just says that their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked. The commentaries I consulted provided little more than speculation. So, I will proceed to do a little speculation of my own. Is it possible that our dissatisfaction with our own bodies is just part of the “curse” of the fall? Maybe we would feel better about our appearance if we just accepted that we are doomed to never feel good about ourselves. Even those hot bodies at the gym were motivated by unhappiness with their original shape.

Jesus didn’t have much to say about having a good self-image for its own sake. Feeling good about ourselves is a result of our confidence in the Father’s love for us – not in how we look. That’s not to say that a healthy body isn’t important. We’ve all heard that we should honor our bodies because they are the temple of God. To that I would add that if your body isn’t healthy, your ability to minister and serve is impaired. Between heredity and our environment, our bodies have enough working against them without all the poor choices we make.

In 2 Corinthians 5: 10, we read: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” We will be held accountable for what we have done while inhabiting our bodies. Could that include what we do to those bodies?

It is okay not to have a great self-image. In fact, to spend a lot of time trying to achieve that goal is to focus . . . on me, rather than . . . focusing on the Lord.*