Does God Care About How Moms Steward Their Bodies?

When you look at yourself in the mirror, what filter do you see yourself through? Do you compare what you see in the mirror to what you see in magazine and television articles? Or do you see yourself through God’s eyes? His eyes care more about the condition of your heart than the condition of your skin. We can make peace with our bodies if we will learn to see it through God’s eyes. Let’s explore what God says about our bodies and our hearts.

Not Our Own

First Corinthians 6:19–20 asks, “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, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (ESV). A little earlier in 1 Corinthians we read, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? . . . For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple (1 Corinthians 3:16–17 ESV). From the book of Romans comes this instruction: “I appeal to you . . . present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1 ESV). First Corinthians also reminds us, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV). All of these verses tell us that our bodies belong to God. He asks us to take care of our bodies and treat them like the Holy Spirit’s precious home. So taking care of our physical bodies is a stewardship issue. We are taking care of something that doesn’t actually belong to us, but instead belongs to God.

The human body is an intricate piece of artwork God fashioned and gave to each one of us.

When you consider these verses, do you get the feeling that your body is actually a gift from God? I do. In fact, it’s a gift God made Himself! In Psalm 139 we discover, “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 (Psalm 139:13–14).

God Cares For You

Have you ever toiled and labored intensely to make a gift? I have! What immediately comes to mind are the T-shirt quilts I made for my son and son-in-law one Christmas. My son’s quilt was made from fifteen T-shirts and my son-in-law’s was a double-sided quilt with forty T-shirts! I cut, ironed, and sewed until I was dreaming about T-shirts. The forty-T-shirt quilt required two people to manage the bulk of material that had to be guided through the sewing machine. Without the help of my mother and my husband, I would never have finished that thing! When I presented these quilts to the boys on Christmas Day, I announced to them, “If you EVER wonder if I love you, just look at these quilts. They are evidence of much sacrifice and a heart full of love for you.”

Now imagine God knitting together your body. When the last stitch is complete, He says, “If you EVER wonder if I love you, just look at this incredible body I’ve given you. It is evidence of sacrifice and a heart full of love for you.” Our bodies are truly miraculous. The body, this incredible gift, contains more than 300 million capillaries in the lungs alone! Not only that, but each kidney in your body contains a million individual filters that filter blood and urine. Did you know the bones in your body are as strong as granite for supporting weight? In fact, a block of bone the size of a matchbox can support nine tons—four times more than concrete can support! And talk about efficiency: A single human blood cell can complete a circuit of the entire body in just about sixty seconds.

The human body is an intricate piece of artwork God fashioned and gave to each one of us. Think about that the next time you stand in front of a mirror and want to start critiquing your body!