Posts Tagged: loving our stomachs

“On Loving My Stomach”

On August 18, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Eph. 5:29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,” (Ephesians 5:29, English Standard Version)

This morning, I looked in the mirror at my stomach, thought about my need to get in better shape, and said, “Goodbye, stomach!” And then I said, “No! Hello, and I love you, stomach!” I thought of all the work my faithful stomach has done over the decades and felt the need to honor it. Perhaps this was, at least in part, because a friend’s spouse is having terrible digestive track problems.

I thought to myself, “I am not going to get rid of my excess belly fat by being mean to and unappreciative of my stomach. The truth is that I need to honor my stomach and take some of the pressure off it by eating more wisely.”

A shift like that in my thinking is no small change. In fact, it is a quantum leap. When I was a scrawny little kid, I came to hate my body. I was too skinny. Later, I was a bit overweight. Then, I became more than a bit overweight. I don’t remember ever being just right. It must have happened at 2:00 a.m. when I was asleep.

The Apostle Paul, in the verse that leads off this post, says that no one hates his own flesh, but cherishes it. I suppose, in a sense, that’s true. If someone pointed a gun at my head, if I had time to think about it, I would probably cherish my flesh a great deal.

However, at least nowadays, there are a lot of us who struggle with our body image and with body hatred. But hatred does not fuel positive change. Love does.

Admittedly, I am taking Paul’s words about loving our physical bodies completely out of context. The context is that Paul is writing about how wives and husbands should regard and treat one another. He says that a husband and wife become one body. Therefore—and Paul is speaking particularly to the husbands here—husbands should love and cherish their wives as they cherish their own bodies.

Furthermore, Paul can’t help bringing Jesus into the mix by saying, “And, oh by the way, the relationship between a husband a wife is to be a lived-out parable reflecting how Christ loves and cherishes the church.” Nevertheless, as Paul goes on to make clear, he is talking about how husbands should treat their wives.

So, the business of a man cherishing his own body is tertiary to what is going on in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Still, I think there is more than a little truth in the idea that we should honor God with our bodies. Do you want a specific verse where this is the main point? I can provide that, also courtesy of the Apostle Paul!

“1Cor. 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

1Cor. 6:20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (ESV)

Now, I am going to have a handful of blueberries before I go out and get some exercise. Okay, stomach? Love you!

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