Scars, stretch marks, freckles, moles, acne, crooked teeth, flabby places, tummy pooch, and a birth mark. I have all of these and more. My body is far from perfect. My post-partem body keeps changing, and I keep finding things I could handle before that now, post birthing children, I just can’t.

This is me about 4 months a long with my first child, about 5 years ago.
Here I am just hours after the birth of my third child.

No amount of self improvement will change many of the most defeating of these changes. Like becoming lactose intolerant. I can loose flabby parts, but I can never have ice cream again.

That one seems kind of silly, but there are other, more personal ones that really get me down more than not having my fill of moose tracks with peanut butter cups. Personal things that make that one week a month a literal pain, things that make loving my husband difficult, things that keep me from leaving my house because I want to cling to the baby sleeping in my arms a few minutes longer.

The culture around us would say things like:

  • Love your body the way it is
  • Change your body to what you want it to be
  • Raise your self esteem by doing what feels good
  • You have the power to “wash your face” and “stop saying sorry” and just change

The truth is… This body isn’t mine. I have been bought by the blood of Jesus, body and soul. My soul is intricately, and inexplicably intertwined with my body. Some Christians believe that they will receive new bodies in eternity, that this one will be gone. But that’s not what the Bible says. Our bodies, the ones we have on this earth, right now, will be raised, and made new.

Another truth that is often overlooked is the description of Christ’s resurrected, physical, very touchable, body. It bore the scars from the cross. If our Lord has scars, what makes us think we won’t?

There’s nothing that says we will or will not have scars. What’s is for sure, is that it will not matter. In eternity, believers will be free from the bondage of sin. We simply won’t struggle with insecurities, pride, selfishness, anxiety, etc. None of it! Body image will not be an issue, no matter if we have scars, like Jesus, or are flawless. It will not matter to us.

How freeing is that?! This reality of eternity really helps my perspective on my body now. This body has a greater purpose, an eternal purpose. I am to take care of my body, but not so that I look good or feel good, but so that I can serve the eternal purposes of the Kingdom.

Now that is freeing.

Soli Deo Gloria!