Breaking Free from Body Shame: Dare to Reclaim What God Has Named Good

by Jess Connolly

The truest thing about you is that you are made and loved by God. And the truest thing about God is that He cannot make bad things. All of this sounds simple until we own up to

In a brave space, there is an invitation to be who you are, where you’re at, while being offered a challenge and room to grow. In a brave space, you accept the probability that you’ll feel uncomfortable, but that your discomfort will be productive. In a brave space, the tenderness and vulnerability you feel is ultimately productive because it leads you to growth.

And we need instruction about what it looks like to love our bodies because God made them—not worshipping them or idolizing them, but worshipping Him with them.

God made our bodies good and He doesn’t make mistakes,

Your body image is the perception you have of your body. What’s wild is that when God looks at your body, He sees Himself. When He looks at you, He sees His own goodness and glory. And you need to know that God loves His image. God cannot see you without seeing Himself, and when He sees Himself, He sees glory.

What if I’ve taken what was meant to be a gift and treated it as a project, as an ever-changing monitor of my goodness and worth, as a trophy declaring that I’ve beaten the curse of aging and of living in a place where everything decays? What if I’ve taken this good gift, exhausted it and examined it, and forgotten that it is supposed to be a safe space where God allows me to experience His presence and power here on earth?

This desire is both sinful and not what I was made for. I was made to bring God glory. When I find myself wanting God’s glory for myself, it’s essentially idol worship of the creation He made to give Himself glory.

God isn’t in the business of rewarding spiritual righteousness with worldly success, and I am not entitled to any such expectation.

It isn’t your body, your beauty, or your behavior that God uses to determine His love for you. And it’s time for us to get into agreement with the way God looks at His people.

you can love and respect and honor someone, yet choose not to accept their perspective if you do not believe their beliefs about the body align with the heart of God. You can perhaps learn from them about other things, but push the mute button in your soul when they talk about the body.

they are good—they’re not on a path to becoming better or acceptable because they were already made good.

And if we simply try to modify our behavior instead of surrendering our hearts, we won’t see the kind of true and lasting fruit that will motivate us to keep going.

What if we decide that any trophy or award we receive will be relinquished so we become less concerned with how many accolades we can garner, and instead, use our energy to worship Jesus?

Your body is neither a trophy nor the best thing about you.

Say yes to the rest God has provided.