Psalm 139: 13-16
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well… My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Each one of us was formed in secret in our mother’s womb, yet God was watching over us. Before our mother realised we were there, and whether she welcomed our presence, or not, God knew about us and made plans for us. God made us and knows all about us. Even the hairs on our heads are numbered.
Over many centuries, there has been a negative view of the human body, unfortunately from teaching in the church and outside it. This has been especially true of the female body. The argument was that when a man was tempted to sin, it was because the woman had attracted him by her body – therefore the woman was responsible for causing the temptation. The woman was always to blame – it could never be the man’s fault. That kind of thinking has percolated down the centuries, and is sometimes still found. It leaves people confused about their bodies – are they good or are they bad?
This thinking has led to women feeling that their bodies are in some way shameful, and it has led to women covering up their bodies with shapeless garments. Paul taught that women should be dressed modestly – so modest and attractive is a good guideline for how to dress – not to go to an extreme either one way or the other. Some people, of course, sadly have a negative body image, even without that kind of damaging thinking.
God wants us to have a positive body image.
Meditate on Psalm 139 and thank God that “you are fearfully and wonderfully made”.