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Perfect Bodies
Not having joined the digital era yet, there were a few pictures left in my camera before I could have the roll developed. So i went around the office taking pictures of my co-workers. When the prints came back, I decided to share them with them.
Almost without exception, they cringed. "Oh, yuck!" "That does it; I'm going on a diet!" And on it went.
I have to confess, I don't particularly like having my picture taken either. But I was surprised at the intensity of their responses.
It wasn't until then that I realized how pervasive our current culture really is. We are constantly, subtly, being told what we should look like – ranging from thin and toned to having sparkling white, perfectly aligned teeth. It is an impossible standard. So we spend our lives disliking what the mirror reflects.
I can't help but wonder... Who set the standard? The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that it is a very destructive lie. Lies enslave. Truth sets you free.
Are you ready for some good news?
What we look like is not who we are.
Remember that simple spiritual principle? If we can see it, it is temporary (2 Corinthians 4: 18). We can see our body; therefore, it is temporary. It will pass away. We, on the other hand, have eternal lie. So it follows that if our life is eternal but our present body isn't, what we look like is not really who we are.
The Apostle Paul compares our body to a seed-it contains the substance of what we will be, but it doesn't look anything like it, yet. (1 Corinthians 15:35-44).
Our present body is declining. The older we get, the more we can identify with that statement. We don't see as we once did. We are not as strong or agile as we once were... Depressing, isn't it? But – and here is the good news – "... though our outward man perishes, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16). Inwardly, we are being transformed and renewed by God's grace. That is our true self.
And there is more good news: In His time, even our body will be raised a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15: 44 )
... not as to substance, but as to its quality; it win not be changed into a spirit; our Lord's risen body, to which ours will be conformed, was not a spirit, but, as before, consisted of flesh and bones: but the body will then be subject to the spirit and soul of man; it will be employed in spiritual service, for which it will be abundantly fitted and assisted by the Spirit of God.... - John Gill
. . when we arise our bodies will have heavenly life and we gaur infused into them; they will be hale, and firm, and durable, and lively, and liable no more to any infirmity, weakness, or decay. [We will) have bodies purified and refined to the last degree, made fight and agile; and, though they are not changed into spirit, yet made fit to be perpetual associates of spirits made perfect. - Matthew Henry
The next time you look in the mirror... smile. That body may not be perfect by this world's standard. But in His time, it will be perfect by an even higher standard … His.
.-Maria Lund