Freedom is being completely happy with my body

In today’s society, there seem to be two major options for how we should view our bodies. We can either be unhappy about our bodies or we can take pride in our bodies and show them off. Our culture teaches us that if we don’t like our bodies we should cover them up and be ashamed of them. We also learn that the solution to getting rid off the shame is to proudly show off what we’ve got. Shame or pride, those are the options. What both options have in common is that they put a huge focus on the body. Our bodies are no longer just a body but either “a showpiece” or something to be ashamed of. The reason our bodies will either give us feelings of shame or pride is simple; we have decided that our bodies define our worth. If I don’t look good that means I’m “less than”. If I look great it means I have great worth. If I look good I also need to show off skin so that others can validate my worth. This is the type of language that our current social media culture is teaching us.

Historically humans have always based a person’s value on things like beauty, power and social status, but do we really want to live according to that standard? I don’t know about you, but I know that this cultural ideal has caused me to develop body image issues over the years. When my own world view finally changed I became aware of the fact that that my worth has nothing to do with how I look, no matter what pop culture says. Today I’m no longer struggling with body image issues, I’m completely happy with my body. I’m grateful and appreciative of my body but I no longer view my body as an object that defines my worth.

Today I view my body as “a home” where my soul lives, not as a show piece that needs to be botoxed and fixed to perfection. I no longer have a need to show off skin because I no longer look for other people to give me validation. I found freedom when I stopped objectifying my own body and started seeing my body for what it is; just a body. Today I’m more interested in spending my time and energy on taking care of my soul rather than spending a huge amount of hours at the gym. My body has scars, cellulite and wrinkles, but I can honestly say that this doesn’t bother me at all. Ten years ago I would not have been happy with the scars, cellulite and wrinkles on my body.

Here’s a fact: a few years from now my body will be dead and eaten by worms in a casket. I’m sorry about giving you that gross image in your head, but I think it’s important to let that sink in. Why should I spend huge amounts of money and time on fixing up my body to look perfect when it’s only a temporary shell? I will only do that if I believe that my worth is connected to my looks. Botox will not make me a more loving person. Perfectly toned muscles will not make me a more loving person. If I take that same energy that I used to spend on obsessing about my looks and spend it on growing my character I will end up becoming a more loving person. In the end it comes down to this: What does our world need more of? Does our world need more love or more perfect bodies?

Worries are destroyed when we worship

Every human-being longs to be free. We all want freedom from something, whether it's to be free from guilt, shame, worry, fear, destructive thoughts, addiction or something else. The door has been opened, we can choose to walk in freedom, but are we willing to do what it takes to take hold of that freedom?

Jesus came to Earth to set us free, we no longer have to be slaves to the darkness in our lives. Jesus overcame all the darkness for us. No matter what's trying to hold us back in life, God is stronger. We have been given the gift of freedom by God but it's our job to choose to walk in freedom. Pastor Holly Wagner from Oasis Church in Los Angeles teaches a great sermon about how we can live free.

Unashamed

In Unashamed, Christine Caine reveals the hidden effects of shame many women face and invites you to join her in moving from a shame-filled to a shame-free life. She helps women find freedom from believing they’re flawed and unworthy and prepares them to step into the future confident, dearly loved, and empowered to be shame-lifters for others.

The Storm Inside

We all face storms in life. These storms many times devastate us and leave us torn apart and beyond recognition. Heartbreak. Fear. Regret. Insecurity. Shame. When these emotions well up inside you, it's difficult to believe you will make it through. We have an enemy who says you will not survive this one.

But God offers us a way through the storm. In The Storm Inside, we'll look at the stories of eight women of the Bible who traveled the path from shame to love, from disappointment to hope, from insecurity to courage, from despair to faith, and more. We'll get to know them as real people and see how God came through for each of them. We'll see the crucial choices they made, and we'll lay hold of the grace that forgives what is past, gives strength for the present moment, and offers hope for the future.

Join Sheila in this eight-session video-based Bible study of eight women of the Bible, whose stories still speak today, encouraging you that God is faithful enough to get you through the worst storms in life.

Sessions include:
1. From Shame to Love
2. From Disappointment to Hope
3. From Fear to Joy
4. From Heartbreak to Strength
5. From Regret to Rest
6. From Insecurity to Confidence
7. From Insignificance to Courage
8. From Despair to Faith


You can buy "The Storm Inside" by Sheila Walsh as a book, audiobook or DVD Study at www.chapters.indigo.ca

A Story about finding forgiveness

Understanding how much God loves every single human being can be hard to grasp. Many people say they didn't fully understand how much God loves them before they became parents. As they think about how much they love their son or daughter and understand that God loves each human that much and a million times more they become overwhelmed. 


God loves every human being like a parent loves a child and so much more than that. He loves you and he loves me. He loves the people with high status in our society and he loves the people our society considers worthless and unimportant. God loves us unconditionally, there is nothing we can do to make him stop loving us. This doesn't mean that God approves of everything we do, just like no parent would approve of their children doing what is wrong, but he will never stop loving us. We can lie, steal, cheat, murder, and be completely selfish and he still loves us. Many times people who have been through much hardship in life tend to understand God's love the best. They know what living life outside of God's will looks like and feels like and they know that they have done many things wrong, so God's forgiveness becomes overwhelming to them. God's grace blows their mind.


I once heard a pastor say that the people who will come to God last are the ones who think that they are "good people" and have done nothing wrong. The murderer, the thief and the prostitute knows very well that what they have done is wrong so when they learn that God can forgive them for every single mistake and give them a new life they celebrate. The man who thinks he is a great person and that his mistakes in life are "no big deal" is the one who will come to God last. This man can not see his need for God.


The truth is that we have all done mistakes in life, there is not one truly "good person" on the planet. We have all done things that are the opposite of love, and we will have to pay the price for each mistake when this life is over unless they have been forgiven by God. God's forgiveness can't be earned, it's freely given to every person when we come to him and truly regret what we have done and ask for forgiveness.


Nobody will enter heaven without first having all their sins forgiven, we all know that, so why do so many of us run away from God? Sometimes it's because we have decided that there is no such thing out there as a "God", so we won't go looking for him. Other times it's because of our pride, we don't want to admit that we did something wrong. We all remember how "fun" it was as a child to go back to our parents and say "I'm sorry". Nobody likes the feeling we get when we need to admit a mistake, but the freedom that comes when we receive forgiveness and the weight is lifted off our shoulders makes it worth it. Carrying around the guilt and shame that comes from mistakes that haven't been forgiven is no fun way to live a life. When we receive God's forgiveness there is no more shame, there is only freedom and joy.