Dear Father,

I would like to be physically healthier. To do so, I know I need to lose weight. Till now, when I wear a fitted dress, I am uncomfortable with the size of my tummy and the breadth of my hips. When I take a photo, I hate the double chin showing. If we can work together to be able to lose weight, my general day-to-day routines would be much easier: walking, making my way through a physical obstacle, carrying groceries, standing up on the bus and so on.

I want to go to the gym and the beach and not be ashamed of the way my body looks. I want to be able to wear smaller sizes. I want to go to long walks and have enough stamina to push my limits both in duration and also in intensity of walking. Having a healthy body enables me to be strong and fit to exercise. The self-help articles I regularly read, all refer to exercise as the key to improving one’s different facets of wellbeing. Without a healthy body I wouldn’t be able to exercise to the maximum and so I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the best of my wellbeing.

My body is a gift from You. I want to nourish it not destroy it. I want to treat this gift with care and appreciation for the wonders it can achieve through discipline, self-control and hard work. When the struggle to lose weight becomes difficult, when the will to say no becomes hard, remind me that You are with me in these difficult moments; that one small no will help me to say another no; that failing today does not mean I can’t get back up on my feet again tomorrow, through the strength You give me.

When I feel alone, provide me with supportive people, who can journey with me, and let me never forget that You are always there and that You wish the best for me. Let the abundance in the fruit of nature remind me that from the beginning, you wished my nourishment, wellbeing and strength. I offer You all those who, like me, are struggling to lose weight.

Anon – the author of this prayer wished to stay anonymous

Read more:
– Top Popes’ Quotes About Our Body

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The author of this prayer lives with celebral palsy

“Father, there are days when it’s hard to accept my body; I hate looking at my outward appearance. I hate being me. Thank you so much for your word. I am your child and you are not ashamed of my body. You call me holy and clean. A temple of the Holy Spirit. May I grasp this truth as I face a world that wants me to find my identity in worthless things. May I use my body to bring you glory. Amen.”

Mike Matthews 

Read more:
– Prayer To Help Me Lose Weight
– Prayer For Shame

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How can I let myself get weighed down and tripped up by what others think about me? If my body is good enough for Jesus to use it to show off his light, than it’s ok for me to live in too.  I am so much more than the definitions the world tries placing on me.  I’m not handicapped, crippled, gimp, retard, and whatever else people use to label others. My identity is in what God says about me. I may have cerebral palsy. But by the grace of God, I belong to him and he’s happy to make me his temple. I’m never alone in my circumstances. Knowing that God is in our circumstances gives us hope that he will use them for his glory and our joy.  On my darkest days, I step out to face the world in a body that I trust God is in to big things with. I wait with eager expectation to see how God will use my life that day.  He never disappoints. No self-help magazine or feel good talk show can give you this kind of outlook on body image. The world will fail you. God’s Word will never let you down. Enjoy life in your body knowing you belong to him. You make the Lord smile.

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1. Accept Your Body And The World As A Gift

“The acceptance of our bodies as God’s gift is vital for welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father.”
Pope Francis, Care Of Our Common Home, 2015

2. The Male/Female Difference Is Still Important

“Valuing one’s own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognise myself in an encounter with someone who is different.”
Pope Francis, Care Of Our Common Home, 2015

3. Our Bodies Relate To Nature

“It is enough to recognise that our body itself establishes us in a direct relationship with the environment and with other living beings.”
Pope Francis, Care Of Our Common Home, 2015

4. Silent Body Language Can Communicate Authenticity

“It is often in silence… that we observe the most authentic communication taking place between people who are in love: gestures, facial expressions and body language are signs by which they reveal themselves to each other.”
Pope Benedict 16th, World Communications Day, 2012

Read more:
– Top Pope Francis’ Quotes About Environmental Sustainability
– Bioethics Quotes By Famous People

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1. God Knows Your Outside And Your Inside

“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.”
Psalm 139:13-14

2. Your Body Is Precious:

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

3. Love God Through Your Body:

“..Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God,what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12: 1-2

4. Too Much Food And Drink Impoverishes Your Body:

“Do not join those who drink too much wine
or gorge themselves on meat,
for drunkards and gluttons become poor,
and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Proverbs 23:20-21

Read more:
– “I Compare Myself To Others” – How Can I Stop Doing This?
– My Psychosis Recovery: Love, Medicine and Faith
– What Is The Theology Of The Body

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St. Paul speaks of our bodies as something precious and sacred, “a temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives within you . This section explores various “bodily experiences yet believing that our body, heart, mind and spirit are inseparable.

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