I’ve never been able to say that I love my body. I don’t know if I ever truly hated it, but I knew I didn’t like the way I looked. 

This year (2023) was the first time I realized that I loved my body, the first time I felt proud of it. I never believed my body was something I could be proud of. I never thought I would allow myself to. 

The words “I love myself” have only ever come out of my mouth when my angel of a grandmother forced me to. I could think of the words, I could say them, but I knew it wasn’t true. It was never said or even thought of with any real conviction. It was as if it were a forbidden sentence my mind had blocked.

That was the case for as long as I could remember. I clearly remember the moment I became aware of my body and it was when another eight year old girl mentioned that my boobs were big when we were dancing in the gym at school. From that moment on, I was self-conscious of how “big” I was.

There was a moment, end of my sophomore year of college, when all of a sudden I could say the words “I love my body”. I don’t remember the context or even where I was. What I do remember was that I was sitting by myself, and the sentence rolled out without any apprehension. I remember feeling the truth behind the phrase “I love my body”. I didn’t stop myself. They were no longer foreign words. It was as if something within me unlocked the idea of being able to love my body.  

 A good friend of mine recently had her first child. I was able to see her and the baby girl just a week after her birth. It was incredible to hear her experience and see how she’s become a mother. Bodies are so beautiful, so divine. They are a tool, and we give them purpose. They change into what we need them to do and what we want them to be. My friend is an amazing woman, and seeing her growth and adaptation to each new phase of her life has been such a powerful experience for me to see. She has shown me how beautiful a woman’s body is, how beautiful I am. Unknowingly, she has blessed my life and has directly influenced the kind of woman and mother I hope to become.

My body deserves to be loved. It will create life, it protects my soul, and it listens to my spirit. It is an extension and a creation of divine intelligence. It will obey and serve me. I have to protect it from the physical world so it can protect me from eternal evils. 

It is my responsibility to treat my body with love and respect because Jesus Christ has gifted it to me. It will be mine throughout the eternities. He wanted it to be mine, and I will honor it.

I love my body as Jesus loves me, I will use my body for the purpose as Jesus uses me, and I will strengthen my body as Jesus strengthens me.

Our bodies deserve to be loved. Your body deserves to be loved.

What a wonderful feeling it is to have a happy body. There is no doubt that I feel this happiness within myself because of my newfound love for her.