And he said: “Let us make Man to our image and likeness. And let him rule over the fish of the sea, and the flying creatures of the air, and the wild beasts, and the entire earth, and every animal that moves on the earth.” And God created man to his own image; to the image of God he created him; male and female, he created them. And so it became. And God saw everything that he had made. And they were very good.
Do you see the emphasis I added to 'very good'? That is because, with every other creation, God said it was good, but when He finished making man (humanity), He said it was VERY GOOD!
So where did this lie come from? Recently, I saw a video* about the Gnostic gospels. I found it very fascinating when I discovered that these 'gospels' and the religion are the main source of heresy in the Christian church. One such heresy is this very idea that we are all 'bad'. We must reject the body, reject sexuality, reject our very selves! What?!? Do you realize what this means? We are created in the Image and Likeness of God. The Image and Likeness... of GOD. God is good, He is perfect. By rejecting our bodies, sexuality, and our very selves, we are rejecting our Creator! Why would we want to do this?? He is good, He is perfect, and He created us in His Image and Likeness!
Take a look in the mirror today. Ladies, I know it can be especially painful for you. But when you look at yourself, I want you to try to look at yourself through the eyes of God. He created you in His Image and Likeness. Gentleman, I can't pretend to know what you see in the mirror as men, but if it is painful, try to do the same as I have instructed the ladies. But no matter how you look at yourself, look with humility. God created you in His Image and Likeness. How much more beautiful can you get?
You deserve all the love, respect, and dignity that God intended for you. Don't reject it just because the world tells you that are not worth it. I know it can be a challenge, I've believed the lie that I had no value. But God has revealed to me the Truth, the sacrifice He made through His Son is the Truth. And it is this: that we are made for God. Therefore, we have value, we deserve all the love, respect, and dignity we receive from Him. He wants to give us mercy, forgiveness, redemption, fulfillment, and life. All we have to do is want it and ask Him for it!
How much do you want this life?
You are Loved!
*Lost Gospels or False Gospels - The Truth About the "Other Gospels" and Early Christianity with EWTN's Fr. Mitch Pacwa and more.
Elizabeth, the problem with hatred of the body in Gnosticism is related to the tradition of philosophy in Greece when Christianity encountered Greek culture. The Greeks understood dualism in all things, therefore for them the soul was pure spirit and the body was pure matter. The goal of life was to help the soul escape the body and return to being pure spirit. Spirit was good and material reality was flawed. We see some of this reflected in ideas of St Augustine. John Paul II has done all of the great service of teaching us that we are a good creation of God and in that we are a unity of body-spirit. We are not two separate things. When we rise in the resurrection we will be one unity of body-spirit again, only purely perfected in Christ. This is truly good news, our sexuality is a good gift that is part of our very essence. Once we grasp the goodness of sexuality we can meditate on how God planned from the beginning for men and women to relate to each other. Chastity is impliled for both the single and married person. In a chaste attraction to the other we are free to desire the best for them. This is helpful in understanding the problem of sex outside of marriage. There is of course the excitement and sensual pleasure, but there are also spiritual aspects to becoming "one flesh". We are imprinted with part of the other and we leave part of ourselves with the other. It turns out that several relationships is equivalent to several divorces. Your soul is torn in parts and you suffer loss of respect for relationship & trust. I won't even go into the consequences of related to procreation of life, especially when this is seen as an unwanted product of sex. You can not separate the product of sex from the act and you cannot separate your soul and body. What we do with our body and thinking cannot be separated from spiritual reality.
ReplyDeleteThe good news is, God has provided us with the wonderful mystery of sexuality that draws us to love each other and to seek relationship with each other.
Christ said, "And if thy hand, or thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to go into life maimed or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire." (Matthew 18:8). We must be aware of the fact that our view of our bodies has been twisted due to the fall of man. Although our bodies are good, we cannot ignore this fact, lest we fall into sin more easily. It is a constant battle for all of us, between the sins of the flesh and 'the echo' of the desire to be united with God. A desire, that God put there from the very beginning, before the fall of man so that we might always seek after Him and His gift of Eternal Life.
ReplyDelete