A Body Worth Loving

I'll be honest, I'm writing to you today not feeling like my best self. I'm bloated, uncomfortable, and feeling very much like I gained 10 pounds overnight. 🙄 Ever been there? Suddenly you're hyper-aware of your body... you know how it goes—one day you're feeling "off" and then suddenly your mind has a lot to say. Cue the critical thoughts.

Do you love your body? Not tolerate it. Not work on it. Not promise to appreciate it "once it changes," but love it... as it is, right now. For so many of us, the answer is complicated. And if we're being real with one another, it's often no.

Often body image isn't a a loud struggle, it's subtle. We've lived with it so long that we don't even question it anymore. Adjusting clothes. Avoiding photos. Comparing without meaning to. Carrying a mental list of things we'd change if we could. What makes it heavy is that nothing necessarily has to change for those thoughts to take over. It's just a gradual loss of grace toward ourselves. And suddenly, our bodies feel like something to critique instead of something to care for.

Scripture speaks directly into this. In 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord says, "people judge outward appearance, but the Lords looks at the heart." God has never measured you the way the world does. He doesn't care what you look like, or about the number on the scale, or even what size jeans you wear. His gaze has always rested on who you are... fully known, fully loved, and deeply valued.

So let me ask you this... have you ever found yourself doing any of the following?

I'll Wear This When...

Told yourself... I'll wear this when I lose five pounds, or I'll wear this when I feel more confident. Have you ever not worn something becasuse you're waiting for your body to change? Yeah, me too. And guess what? That little black dress is still hanging in your closet with the tag on it.

Avoiding Photos

Maybe there was a season you avoided photos because you didn't like how you looked. Then later, you wished you had more memories, not fewer flaws. If we let it, body image can quietly become a memory thief.

Dressing to Hide, Not to Live

Do you have a wardrobe built around hiding—oversized sweaters, and all black everything, and standing behind people in group photos? It's wild how body image doesn't just shape our thoughts, but our behavior.

The Mirror Check

Ohhhh the mirror check. A habit of adjusting your shirt, turning sideways, sucking in without thinking, and checking angles before leaving the house. Its subtle. Automatic. And just shows how ingrained the struggle can be.

Move Your Body for Punishment vs. Gratitude

Do you workout to "earn" food, versus moving your body because you can. Not because it needs to be fixed.

Being Harder on Yourself Than Anyone Else

No one talks to you the way you talk to yourself. You're your worst critic. Would you ever say those same words to your sister, best friend, or even your younger self?

Comparing in Good Seasons

Not comparing during a low point, but when life was good. When you felt strong, healthy and stable. And now in a completely different season, you measure yourself against a version of you that lived under completely different circumstances.

I'm guilty of more than a few of these. And one perspective shift that's changed everything for me is realizing this... your body is someone else's prayer.

• your legs that carry you on runs (or walks), and get you out of bed every morning

• your heart that keeps beating—faithfully, without every asking it to

• your eyes that see beauty, and read truth

• your voice that encourages, prays, and speaks life

• your hands that serve, hold, comfort

• your body that heals, adapts, and shows up again—even after hard seasons

The very things you criticizes may be the same things someone else is praying for. God invites us to interrup the habit of agreeing with every critical thought, and to treat our bodies with the same patience and respect we offer everyone else. There's no instant confidence boost. No overnight transformation. But it's powerful. Because healing your relationship with your body isn't built in the moment, it's built through consistency.

SHE Walks in Faith

Honor your body as someone else’s prayer. Treat yourself with the same care and patience you offer others. Trust that God is at work in yourself—body, heart, and soul.

Everyday Ways to Love Your Body

• Speak to it with kindness

• Fuel it without guilt

• Move because you can

• Rest when it asks

• Dress for the body you have today

• Stop waiting to participate

• Notice what your body does for you

• Care for it like something entrusted to you

• Invite God into the conversation

🩷 Prayer

God, help me see myself through Your eyes. Quiet the voices that pull me toward shame. Teach me to live fully in the body You’ve given me—with gratitude, care, and trust. Amen.