A Beautiful Body

 

I am not a fan of pictures of myself. There is a division between females who love to have their pictures taken, and those who hide when there is a group picture. I mean some actually leave the vicinity when the cameras or phones come out. Then when it is unavoidable, they will hide behind others in the picture. You know who you are. We may not know who you are, since your face is half hidden behind your third cousin, but you know who you are. It isn't as if we are in some sort of witness protection program, it is just that we aren't that big a fan of how we look. Yes, yes, all of us photo haters are aware that people see us face to face all of the time, but it isn't quite the same as photographic evidence of our shortcomings. And quite frankly, we are our own worst critic. Inevitably there is someone in the photo who is younger, trimmer, fitter, taller, just something-er. Something that makes us more aware of what it is that makes us not want to be immortalized in photographic glory in the first place. I imagine that is why some creative soul came up with the very popular filter feature. 

Recently my husband's cousin, Bill, was in town and came by to have dinner with us. Bill has spent his life in the strength coaching field. He also holds records in drug free Bench Press. Impressive enough, and even more so when you learn that he acquired those after the age of 60. It goes without saying that he is a big guy, has been as long as I've known him. While he was at our house, we took a group photo, Bill, my husband, John and myself. I looked like an elf between the two of them. John isn't big, but he is taller than me, and broad shouldered. I liked that I looked so tiny. It's been a while since I saw myself looking petite. Then I saw pictures of myself posted elsewhere. Not so tiny here. There weren't tall power lifters standing beside me, I wasn't wearing a flowing blouse, and the camera angle wasn't quite right. Now, that is why I don't like pictures. I had captioned my previous picture, "If you want to appear tiny, stand close to big people." Yeah, kind of forgot that when I got in the group picture lineup. 

Reading those last two paragraphs, I am embarrassed at how vain I sound. How consumed it appears I am with how I look. I would truly like to deny it, and say it isn't so. I would love to say that I am full of self-confidence, my identity in Christ allows me to float above the noise of my appearance. I would be lying. I struggle on a daily basis. Every time I look in the mirror and see the years' marks on my face, the evidence that it is time yet again to address the graying of my hair, I struggle a bit. I do my best to work with what is there and be grateful for healthy habits that have kept the damage minimal. Then I go into the closet to get dressed and confront an entirely different issue. An ongoing, perpetual issue. Oh, I know. Because I hear it from those who love me. It could be so much worse. And it has been. But the world around me assaults my self-image with visuals of what has been, what is and what could be. And the result is that my value and self-worth take a beating. And those females that were briefly mentioned in the first paragraph? The ones who love to have their pictures taken. Yeah, them. 

We women drag our self-images through the mud by using those images as our pattern. Like the patterns that we used to use to make clothes from? Remember those? You laid them over the material and cut the material to match, then sewed the material together to match the pattern. And if you did it right, the final product matched the picture on the front of the pattern package. But that is not the way this works. We are not supposed to match someone else's pattern. We are not going to become what God designed us to be by comparing ourselves to one another. Whether it is the physical, the intellectual or the spiritual. 

I remember one Home Economics teacher I had. I think it was 8th or 9th grade. We were making skirts. She had one pattern and showed us how it worked. Then she had us each lie down on the ground and make our own individual patterns. We traced each other's body shapes on butcher paper, then cut our own patterns out. She helped us to make our own patterns. Think about that. How innovative, creative and somewhat spiritual of her. I will confess, however, I did not pass this. I flunked horribly on zippers. Good news, though. I excelled the next semester in cooking, so made up for it.

God designed us to make our own pattern as well. He does not want us to compare ourselves with one another. Paul tells us in Galatians 6:4 "Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else."   He tells the Corinthians in chapter 10, verse 12, "For we don't dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding."  There is a very specific reason why this is advised against. Why would it be foolish, as some versions call it, to compare ourselves to others? We go to Romans 12:4-8 for further understanding. "Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one's faith; if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy with cheerfulness." 

We are individual parts of one body. Each part has a purpose, an intentional purpose. No gift is too small, too insignificant. All are dependent on one another to function fully. And when cooperating together, the full purpose of the Body of Christ can be accomplished.

When the foot says I am not as attractive as the hand, it loses the significance of its purpose. God created us with purpose and intention. When we compare ourselves with one another over insignificant things, even over significant things, we lack understanding. I have become convicted this week over my guilt of doing just that. I need to do better. I will do better. Because I do not want to become a useless part of the body because I am unhappy over trivial matters. The body needs every part functioning wholly to achieve the purpose of Christ. Because, that my friend, is truly a picture of a beautiful body.