4. "The body is a gift to be treated
with gratitude and respect."[1]
Once we
realize the significance of our bodies and their beautiful interconnection with
our spirits, it's easier to see our body as a gift, and, like all great gifts, to
treat it with gratitude and respect. Unfortunately, opposition often creeps in
here.
Susan Tanner
explained the challenge this way:
"[Satan] has filled the world with
lies and deceptions about the body. He tempts many to defile this great gift of
the body through unchastity, immodesty, self-indulgence, and addictions. He
seduces some to despise their bodies; others he tempts to worship their bodies.
In either case, he entices the world to regard the body merely as an object. .
. . The body is a gift to be treated with gratitude and respect."[2]
Diane
Spangler, a psychologist and researcher at BYU-Provo, offers the following
three introspective questions to help us assess just how well we are doing
treating our bodies with gratitude and respect:[3]
1. For what purpose are we using our gift?
In other words, are we preoccupied with manipulating or
adorning or bodies, rather than using them to do good?
2. To what extent are we limiting our gift?
For example, do we care for our bodies
properly? Are we caring for them in a way that will help us to reach our true
potential?
3. To what ends will our gift serve?
Meaning, do we use our bodies in
accordance with commandments? Do our bodies help us "stand as a witness of
God at all times and in all things, and in all places"?[4]
After all,
how we care for a gift directly reflects how we feel about the giver. D&C
88:33 reads:
"What doth it profit a man if a
gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not
in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of
the gift."[5]
So, let's
teach our daughters and ourselves that
our bodies are a great gift and that, ultimately, respecting and honoring our
bodies is a way we can worship and glorify our Father in Heaven.
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