Radiant Son

    In American culture, there are certain ideas of body image ingrained into society. Whether it is the obesity epidemic plaguing the country or the unrealistic beauty portrayed by the celebrities in the media. Especially for women, there are always beauty ideals that we are trying to fit ourselves into. With the temptations of an unhealthy food market combined with the absurd representations of beauty, I felt it was worth looking into the word on this topic. 

    Striving to be healthy is a good thing! We should be conscious of what we fill our bodies with and do our best to maintain them well through exercise. Our bodies serve as a temple of the Holy Spirit. It would be a shame to cut our own life short by our unhealthy habits, and in turn cut our ministry short here on Earth. We are called to keep our flesh in strict discipline to live fully in the Spirit. However, this should not be an extreme! Paul tells us that training ourselves in godliness is of more benefit than training our earthly bodies. 

Romans 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (NIV)

1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 9:26-27 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. (NLT)

1 Timothy 4:6-8 If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching that you have followed. But have nothing to do with irreverent and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness, for the training of the body has a limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (HCSB)

    The "standards" of beauty in this world are irrelevant compared to God's thinking about you. Remember that God created you in His own image. Do you think He is not beautiful? The God who created the sunset, the ocean, the mountains, and the stars created you more beautiful still. Ponder that a moment. He made you to reflect His own glorious image into the world. 

Genesis 1:27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (NLT)

    Another concern of this world so fixated on looks, is losing attractiveness to age. I have thought about this much. The Bible tells us that sin causes death. The more sin we muck around in, the more death is brought into our lives and also into our bodies. However, if we live Godly lives in the presence of the living God Himself, we are formed more and more into His image. I believe that this means we can age gracefully and maybe become more beautiful as we draw nearer to the most beautiful One. Just think of the Old testament when Moses saw the Lord and was literally shining with His glory! We have access to the same glory and beauty of Christ. 

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)

2 Corinthians 3:18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord--who is the Spirit--makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. (NLT)

Exodus 34:29 When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the Lord. (NLT)

    Today, evaluate in your heart your ideas and standards of beauty. Do they align with the word of God? Or society's take on attractiveness? Remember that you are a beautiful child of the Most High and you are designed to reflect His glory and image! That is nothing short of gorgeous. Draw nearer to Him, His truth, and His beauty.