I have long struggled with my relationship with my body. It’s a relationship that on the best days is positive, on most days is apathetic and on the worst days is downright hateful.
Scripture has a lot to say about bodies. From Genesis to Revelation, law and Gospel, prophets to Jesus, the message can be a bit mixed. Sometimes scripture lifts up our physical selves. Sometimes scripture emphasizes how our bodies are less important than our souls.
The body matters. Why else would Jesus have chosen to return people to their communities, to their loved ones, if our ordinary human lives didn’t matter?
This, more than anything about my body as a temple of the Lord or the emphasis on my soul’s eternal nature, helps me to be grateful for my body. Studying how Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected as a human being shows me that God values my physical self. That my body, as imperfect as it is, matters.
This message is an excerpt from the Café Faith reflection: What the Bible says about body image by Jenna Pulkowski.
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