I remember when all the culture said was “You aren’t good enough.”
I remember when the only valued people were the drop-dead gorgeous ones. The actors; the models.
We were all told as a society that beauty meant skinny, value meant tall, worth something meant attractive.
And then a few years ago, the tables flipped.
The new mentality became “Love your body.”
And at first, that was a good thing. It was a relief to hear from companies and actors that accepting our bodies as they were was perfectly fine, because perfection is impossible, anyway.
But now, we hear it so much. The message that loving your body is the key to happiness. That we’re flawless. That we need nothing to make ourselves any more beautiful, and as long as we remember that, we will be content.
But I don’t agree.
Loving your body as it is does not add any more value to yourself than you had in the first place.
Sound confusing? Let’s break it down.
A while back, all we heard was “Use this product.” “Lose more weight.” “Dye your hair this color.” Basically? Crown yourself center of the universe and focus on making yourself look amazing. Because your value is based on your looks, obviously. #lies
Now, what do we hear? “It doesn’t matter if you’re overweight. It doesn’t matter if you’re weak. It doesn’t matter if you’re unhealthy. Love your body for what you look like, because it’s all beautiful.” So again, what’s it about? Value, still is about looks, just in a different way, now.
But that can’t be where our worth comes from.
We are not valuable because of what we look like, whether we “love” it or not. In a day of “no-makeup” selfies in our Instagram feeds, we’re still saying that we’re beautiful without makeup, and therefore valuable.
But where a “therefore” is not due, we should not put it.
We are valuable because
1) we are made by God, 2) we are loved by God, and 3) we are children of God, temples of the Holy Spirit.
What do those things have to do with? God. Not us. Not our looks. Not our talents.
Our value is determined by who God is and who He has made us to be. [Tweet this!]
There’s nothing wrong at all with loving our bodies. It’s so much better than hating how we look, especially over things we cannot change.
But self-love, though of course important, does not determine our worth.
Loving a favorite piece of jewelry or sentimental item does not make it worth any money; value is intrinsic.
And because we are made by God, we have an intrinsic, unshakable value that no one has the authority to redefine — not even ourselves.
We were made by God, and in His image, which makes us priceless.
Genesis 1:27
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Psalm 139:13-14
“For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.”
We are loved by Him, who sacrificed His Son for us – we are now blameless in His sight for that reason, and that one alone.
2 Corinthians 5:21
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
The Holy Spirit – God – lives in us. Our souls are not ours alone anymore; they belong to Him.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“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, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
With all the talk of positivity regarding our bodies, we must remember that we are valuable regardless of our looks. We are valuable because we were made by God. We have worth because we were saved by Jesus. And we are precious because we are temples of the Holy Spirit.
We are not cherished because of who we are, or what we’ve done – but because of who He is.
*aj
Scattered Journal Pages 
great thoughts! Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Thank *you*, Jonathan! Welcome to Scattered Journal Pages, and thanks for commenting!
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Yes, it’s all because of Him! The fact that we’re made in His image has been on my mind a lot lately, so I enjoyed reading your thoughts from that perspective too. 🙂 And you’re right – the ‘love your body’ trend is still all about ourselves, and trying to find worth in how we look, or don’t look.. I agree with your take on it! Also, when we realize that our true worth comes from who we are, and the Father we have, it’s so much more fulfilling!
Keep it up, Amanda – God’s using your words. xx
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Thank you, Jessica! So cool to hear you’ve been thinking about it too; I love when that happens. 🙂
You’re so right-on about that – when we see where our true worth lies, it gives so much more significance than just feelin’ pretty.
Aw, wow. That means more than you know. Thanks for such a sweet comment! ❤
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That was a great message Amanda, and one we all need to hear! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
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Thank you for commenting, Tamara! Means a lot. I appreciate it!
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This was a really good post, Amanda! I had wanted to do a post on this on my blog as well. I think a lot of times Christians have started saying, because of the cultural message, that we’re fine just the way we are and we’re beautiful, but our beauty and our worth should not come from what we are, but who He is.
Totally agree! This is a much needed post in our day and age!
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Thank you, Hannah Joy!
Oh, totally. It’s crazy how much Christians can really mess things up, and skew proper views of things, like our self worth. If you end up writing about it on your blog, be sure to send me the link! 😀 ❤
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Amen, Mandy! I, too, remember when the world turned from ‘you’re not good enough’ to ‘love your body no matter what’. It was kind of subtle, but still, I noticed.
I really don’t think we should be concerned with either. I think we should just accept what we look like and praise God that we’re even ALIVE, for we are “fearfully and wonderfully made”.
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Thank you, Hann! Hanne. Hannie. Hanny. (Whatever. I’ll think of a nickname for you soon enough. xD)
Yeah, weird, isn’t it? I think with the image-obsessed society we live in, a lot of people realized it was damaging to so many people, yet the BoPo movement hasn’t fixed the whole problem.
And yes! Alive is definitely beautiful. I love to remember this: “Today, if you’ve woken up alive, you’ve got a purpose. Live it.”
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Lol. Hann is kind of a nickname in itself, but I am called Hani sometimes 😛
I like that quote! “Today is you’ve woken up alive, you’ve got a purpose. Live it.” 🙂 I’ll remember that
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GAHHHHH AMANDA THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND SO TRUUUUE. God wants us to see our worth in Him, because we ARE made in his image! That’s what makes us holy and worthy, not anything else. Also I feel strongly about God wanting us to be healthy. I don’t think it’s right to accept our bodies the way they are if they are experiencing legit problems. We should be taking good care of our bodies, because they’re the temples of God. 🙂
I LOVE YOUR POSTS BC THEY ALWAYS MAKE ME THINK ❤
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THANK YOU OMWWWWW.
Yes, absolutely right. 😉
I totally do too. Being healthy is so important, I mean we’re only given one body, and it’s a Temple of the Holy Spirit, so hello, definitely treat it well! xD Haha.
Thank you so much! ❤️ Wow.
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Wow great post Amanda!! You are absolutely right! God made each of us specially and loves us, not based on these outward things that people look at, but by our inward heart. What a great reminder! Thanks for sharing that post.
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Thank you for your kind words, Ashley! ❤ Absolutely right.
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I love these posts you’re doing, taking common messages one will hear and flipping them on their face. I never think about the opposite side of them, usually I hear “be yourself” and “you’re beautiful the way you are” and think, “yes, that IS true.” And it is, I suppose, on the surface: we shouldn’t try to be someone else, and you are beautiful just how you were created, but it is so much more than that! Our value is in Christ.
Thanks for making me think. 🙂
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Thank you so incredibly much, Jeneca. I’m totally with you there — we hear messages that sound so /right/ until we step back and realize what we’re truly telling ourselves. Thanks for reading! It means so much to me. ❤
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“But where a ‘therefore’ is not due, we should not put it.”
EXACTLY. I’ve been thinking about value and worth lately and how they really are different things. You tied it into this body-image thing so well as usual. 🙂
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Thank you, thank you, dear girl! I’m glad it’s been on your mind as well; thinking about deep topics is fun. 😉 Thanks for the comment!
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It is fun! And profitable. 😉
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Absolutely.
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You know, I’ve never thought about that like this before, which made me really curious about the title of this post. You always have such an interesting way at looking at things, Amanda. Thanks, as always, for making me think beyond the surface. 🙂
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Well, thank you so much, Emily! ❤ It always makes me happy to hear people say I made them think – that's exactly what I want to do, not just textbook-force information on people! Haha! 😉
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Thank you Amanda for the message. Praise God that our beauty is not based on us but who He is. We are made beautiful because He has reclaimed us, washed us, shaped us, refined us, and restored us. Thank you for the truth that our identity is not in who we are but who He is.
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Thank you for such a wonderful comment! Yes, it’s so important to remember where our identity truly lies. ❤ Love you all!
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Whoa, this was deep Amanda! But really great point! I never thought of it that way! (I mean, I did, but not consciously, you know. 😉 ) Thanks for writing! 🙂 God bless!
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I love hearing that! (Because honestly, until I start writing, I usually hadn’t thought of it that way either!) Thank you for your kind comment! ❤ ❤
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