For the Woman struggling with her body: How Jesus’s Sacrifice Changes How We View Ourselves

I absolutely love this women and try to read everything she writes! My friendship with Lisa Whittle has grown strong and tender through the years, anchored by our passion for Jesus and seeking first the Kingdom of God. From diets to workouts to anti-aging serums, we’re constantly told to do more, be more, change more. But what if your body was already declaring the goodness of your Creator? In this excerpt from her new Bible study, Body and Soul, author and Bible teacher Lisa Whittle offers us hope and encouragement to embrace God’s design and live well—inside and out. It’s an absolute joy to welcome Lisa to the farm’s table today…

Guest Blog Post by Lisa Whittle

When I was a twenty-two-year-old seminary student, living off a “girl dinner” of Skittles^® and Diet Coke^®, over-exercising, and gravely depriving my body of its vital nourishment, I didn’t think about my body’s created purpose;

I only thought of what I desperately wanted my body to look like.

I admit, this was a very small and surface-level goal of a much more beautiful and grand design.

I just didn’t get it.  

A lot of us walk around with this narrow view of ourselves.

It’s no wonder then that when we notice in the mirror we’ve not yet achieved our body goals, we live with a failure (and subsequently, guilt, shame, and self-loathing) mindset. When in reality, we are simply not understanding that the goal isn’t to look better; it is to live our whole embodied purpose from the inside out.  

While a lot of us may innately know this, the problem is moving from the knowing to the living it out.

It starts with being honest and no longer running away from the truth, even when it’s hard. 

What I’m talking about is not neglecting our bodies or living self-focused. I’m talking about making a shift to whole body theology (a biblical belief system of God’s creation of us as an entire person, body and soul). With whole body theology, our views and activities in our bodies fall much more into balance. 

“Centering Jesus in your life is the only way to yourself stay emotionally and physically centered, body and soul. “

Yes, keeping our mindsets right will still require commitment and human effort. But it will also happen much more naturally as we set up the right mindset to begin with.  

Centering Jesus in your life is the only way to yourself stay emotionally and physically centered, body and soul. 

And because I’m a fantastic natural skeptic, I know what your “but” here likely is. But Lisa, Jesus isn’t an actual health/anti-aging plan/strategy.  

You’re right. Jesus isn’t those things. Because this is whole body theology. This isn’t about resigning to or reconciling with your outside appearance.

Jesus didn’t come and die for you to work out a certain way.

You might be talking about night serum to your girlfriends, but He is interested in far more.  

Let me give you a little example.  

If you’ve ever been to a counselor, you might have had them draw you an “iceberg” drawing, where you see an iceberg above the water, a waterline, and then a lot of space in the “water” below. The counselor will write the issues you tell him or her you are having on the iceberg tip above the water, while pointing to all the water below and say, “this is what you are really dealing with,” and thus, the counseling dives into the things that need to be written below the water’s surface. 

Of course, diets and body types get a lot of attention, but I’m not just talking about the way our bodies look. Many of us struggle with chronic health issues, infertility struggles, aging, disability, or perhaps our bodies being abused in the past and how that affects the way we think about ourselves. Regardless of what the difficulty is, many things lie below the surface.

It’s never really about our weight, wrinkles, gut issues, or body’s abilities, ultimately. (I know. My flesh wants to argue that, too!) 

We are mad at our bodies because our souls want something they aren’t getting. The two are yoked together, and that is a huge problem because at least one of them isn’t cooperating with us.  

“We are mad at our bodies because our souls want something they aren’t getting.“

What you believe and feel about your body is what ultimately needs to change (emphasis on believe).

Because when we understand God’s full picture of us and for us, we don’t have the same health habits anyway. Our wants change, and that includes the desire for our lives to be full, abundant, and God-glorifying rather than temporarily happy, cheaply thrilled, and ultimately dissatisfied.  

One of the things I love about the Lord is how He is patient with us if we are not there yet.  

Because I doubt many of us, while focused on changing what we see in the mirror, have considered Christ’s death on the cross. I admit that I, myself, have not previously had those simultaneous thoughts. 

When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He proclaimed that He accomplished what the Father sent Him to do. Meaning, the payment for our sins was made. He did that for you and for me. 

So, for all believers, there are two life-altering realities:  

1. “It is finished.” The ultimate conclusion to the exchange of His death for our eternal lives—His coming to break every chain that binds us, which includes the captivity of whatever body struggles hold us.  
2. “In the process.” The ongoing chain-breaking of daily struggles in our bodies, in our temptations, setbacks, and disappointments, as we have communion with our Lord and are loved through every moment, with hope for a new day.  

Sis, I hope you feel as hopeful as I do in this. Because I am quite “in the process” while rejoicing in the “it is finished” work of Christ on the cross. And I quite desperately need Him in the process, while I pray daily to keep my mind in the right place with my whole body theology.  

And it helps me, too, to remember that as an embodied Savior He can relate to me in my “in process” work—that daily temptation and struggle. 

The temptation of Christ (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13) reminds us of a Savior in the trenches with us. He came, already knowing the end of the story, but in His incarnation, the process of living was a reality for Him. Thus, we find communion with Him in the fellowship of suffering.  

And above all, it’s crucial to remember the words “It is finished.” Because these were the words Christ said on the cross when He defeated death and broke every chain that binds us.

Therefore, even if you feel long-held issues with your body have some type of hold over you, according to the Bible, it is not true. 

Have a right expectation, my friend. This isn’t going to happen overnight. Anything you want to die to you will have to process through. Only then will you get to the other side. This takes time. Some of our mindsets and habits have been forming since we were very young.  

In the process.  

It is finished.  

He is with you. 

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