“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works.”
Psalm 139:14
Years ago, someone I love made an unkind comment about my body.
It wasn’t said jokingly or lovingly. It was meant to deflate me—and it did.
But something happened that I didn’t recognize at the time.
The words didn’t leave when the conversation ended.
They stayed with me.
I began looking in the mirror and seeing myself through those words. Eventually, I didn’t need anyone else to say them anymore. I was saying them to myself.
My body was ugly.
My body was unacceptable.
Something was wrong with it.
Then recently, while lying quietly during a massage, I felt the Lord show me something I had never considered:
My body had been listening too.
The words originally hurt me, but over time I had taken those hurtful words and made them my own. I had begun treating God’s creation with the same rejection that had wounded me.
That realization broke my heart.
Scripture says:
“I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works.”
Psalm 139:14
I realized I couldn’t call God’s workmanship marvelous while continually speaking about His workmanship as though it were ugly and unacceptable.
So I prayed.
I asked God to forgive me for agreeing with hurtful words instead of agreeing with His truth. And then, as strange as it might sound, I apologized to my own body.
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry for looking at you with disgust.
I’m sorry for repeating words over you that once wounded me.
I’m sorry for expecting you to carry the rejection that belonged to those words.
And something began changing—not necessarily my body, but the way I saw it.
I don’t have to believe everything about my body is perfect. Taking care of God’s creation may mean exercising, eating differently, seeking medical care, losing weight, gaining strength or changing unhealthy habits.
But there is a tremendous difference between caring for my body because I value it and trying to change my body because I hate it.
Maybe that’s something God wants us to understand.
Our bodies aren’t our enemies.
They carry us through this life. Hearts keep beating. Lungs keep breathing. Wounds work to heal. Bodies continually do countless things we never even think to thank them for.
And perhaps some of us need to stop looking in the mirror through the eyes of someone who wounded us.
Maybe we need to look again through the eyes of the One who made us.
David prayed:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart… and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Psalm 139:23–24
Sometimes God searches our hearts and reveals something we didn’t even realize was there.
Sometimes He shows us that another person’s voice has quietly become our own.
And when He does, we can stop repeating the wound and start agreeing with the truth:
I am God’s creation.
I will care for His creation.
I will speak about His creation with kindness.
And I will never again require myself to hate my body in order to take better care of it.
Lord, search me and show me any hurtful words I have allowed to become my own. Help me release what others have spoken over me that does not agree with Your truth. Teach me to care for the body You have given me with wisdom, gratitude and love. Thank You that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works. Amen.
