Sacredness and humanity is something that goes hand in hand. But, how do you view yourself? We often talk about issues dealing with how people view others. Yet, we mustn’t forget that to enjoy a good life, you must first deal with how you view yourself and inner-acceptance. Food-eating disorders, low self-esteem, and many mental health issues which our society faces, relate to how a person views himself or herself. So, to find out what’s the right way to deal with the matter, continue reading.
What is Sacred?
The acceptance of that which is sacred first starts with what you define as sacred. To be sacred means to hold a divine purpose. And so, do you hold a divine purpose? Has God willed your life into being?
These are all valid, thought-provoking questions which one must answer in order to live a life worthwhile. I believe God assigns everyone a divine purpose. And God created you with the intent of you bearing His image, to represent Him.
Genesis 1:27 World English Bible (WEB)
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
You are sacred. I placed a period directly after the previous sentence because it is a fact and there’s no way to argue the contrary. God intends for you to be in His image because you are a sacred individual.
Now, just because you hold divine purpose, doesn’t mean that whatever you do is divine. In fact, your lifestyle might be as far apart from divine purpose as the East is from the West. But, there is a way to come back to your divine purpose.
When mankind rejected God, the devil found a way to ruin mankind’s perception of its own sacredness. You could read more about that in Genesis 3 of the Bible or in this post.
Thank God, He (God) came in the flesh 2000 years ago as Jesus Christ and died on the cross to take your sins and my sins upon Himself so that He may restore us to our divine purpose and in His image; after 3 days, He rose again to fully justify your salvation.
So, if you haven’t already, please acknowledge with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Saviour.
The Hideous Made Beautiful
Furthermore, there are those of you who hate your physical appearance or hold what many people and psychologists call a “low self-esteem.” This is why many people, especially women, seem to hold eating-disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.
Anorexia is when one has a severe fear of gaining weight even when unhealthily skinny. And bulimia is when someone binge eats unhealthily but then tries to purge what they ate, or fasts for a while through unhealthy means.
Now, scientists and doctors relate the causes of such eating-disorders to a combination of biochemistry and environmental factors. Whatever the cause is, I know this is a fallen world where things don’t function the way God intended them to. And what I need… is a solution.
I believe that solution is, in the case of people with eating disorders, in taking your eyes off magazines along with media that limit a person’s worth to their physical ideal, and to realize that God loves you just as you are, physically. And to really drill the right idea into your head, read the Bible (start with the New Testament) and commune with Him.
If you want to be physically healthy and fit, then follow a proper, healthy, nutritionally-sufficient diet and exercise at a moderate level. Just don’t forget that God loves everyone, fat or skinny, poor or rich, black or white, and He will always considers you as sacred.
Colossians 3:9-11 World English Bible (WEB)
9 Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, 10 and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, 11 where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.
When in Christ, there is no factor by which one is worth less than another. You are all created for God’s glory in the way God calls you to be. So, read the Bible, pray, and worship Him. When you do that, you will automatically renew what you know of His image so that your life will closely resemble His perfection. There’s power in acceptance of who you are in Christ Jesus.
Acceptance of the Temple of God
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 World English Bible (WEB)
19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
There’s a stark reminder in the Word of God that you do not belong to yourself. When you make a paper airplane, does that paper airplane belong to itself or to you? It belongs to you, and in the same way, God made you and He owns you. You were never supposed to belong to yourself. It’s just not possible to live a life of purpose in a life not surrendered!
Your body is sacred and holy to God. It’s a living temple which His Holy Spirit inhabits. Moreover, I can argue that not only are you sacred but that you are sacred on top of sacred. You are the pinnacle of sacredness of all creation to God.
And that’s because God made the animals and all nature, for your existence, which He subjects to you. So, those things are sacred, but they are sacred because they were made for you! Thus, making you a divine purpose of purposes.
Genesis 1:28 World English Bible (WEB)
28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Even more, whether you look good on the outside or not to yourself, God is pleased with you when you surrender your physical being (alongside your entire self) to Him. If you want to be healthier, you can workout and eat healthily, but, do it for the glory of God, not out of fear or unhealthily obsessive conditions.
1 Samuel 16:7 King James Version (KJV)
7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.