Holy Ground

Many times in life God gives me things or blesses me in ways that I don't even understand. I will attempt to encourage some people by what I am about to say or to shed a bit of light on the truth of God, because I stand here as a woman changed by the power of God's hand. Amen.

I realize that I am in a minority (unfortunately) of people, and in particular women that have a healthy body image and general self-esteem. Now, this certainly hasn't always been the case. Anyone who knew me up until the age of 16 can surely testify to this! But praise the Lord those days are over. Hallelujah. (And that is completely sincere).
First of all, something that God opened my eyes to about a week ago was this. We are vessels of the Lord's work. We are members of Christ's body (1 Cor. 12:27). We are united with the Lord, and are ONE with Him in spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). We are God's temple (1 Cor. 3:16). Got it? Good. So, here's the revelation. Our bodies are holy ground. We need to be able to respect ourselves because we are litereally one with God. So when you let someone make you feel like crap, or walk all over you, or try to get "frisky" with you (I know that there are some people being pressured into these situations) - you need to stop and say "Woah now, this is HOLY GROUND and you can't mess with that!" Now I am not writting this so that everyone will go on ego trips or whatever (and I hope that's not what you are receiving from this) because we ONLY boast in Jesus Christ. It is the Christ part of the equation (me+God=1) that we can boast about. But we can't seperate ourselves from Him, so we need to start loving and respecting ourselves.

Now for those of you who know this but are having a hard time really learning to love and accent yourselves, let me share with you some things that work for me and hopefully they might be able to help you too.

1)I don't weigh myself. The only time that I will get on a scale is in the doctor's office. This may be drastic, but I am boycotting because TOO many of my sisters out there are enslaved by a number. You are not how much you weigh! (Sounds a bit like Tyler Durden from Fight Club. I digress)
2)I don't read Cosmo, or Seventeen, or whatever other celebrity magazines are out there. I boycott altogether (this one is hard if you are in a waiting room somewhere, but bring your own books :P) We are already bombarded with images all around us that we can't avoid, so choose to avoid what you can.
3)I don't watch t.v. Now this originally was because I couldn't afford cable. But I honestly have noticed big changes in my life because of it. Now if I go somewhere to watch t.v. I have that shock value and how thin or how much make-up these people wear etc. Again, limiting what you can.
4)I go to the word - I shared some passages earlier and would love to share some more if you are interested. Search it out - how does God want you to see yourself? I have a friend (you know who you are) who tells me that everyone should look into the mirror everyday and say "I am a BEAUTIFUL creation of God". This friend actually makes me do it when I am with them...it's hilarious, but a good exercise.
5)I hang around people who are REAL. That accept me regardless of whether or not I have had time to make my self half presentable.

I could keep going on. But I won't. I'd love to talk more in depth with anyone struggling with this. I seem to keep forgetting how much of an issue this is, because I've dealt with it already, but I am here to talk if anyone wants. God's love is amazing and His healing power is OUT OF THIS WORLD! I hope that this has helped at lest one of you. Be blessed.

"For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, and you are COMPLETE through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe". - Colossians 2:9&10 (NLT)