It has taken me many years and much spiritual growth to finally understand what makes us valuable. Contrary to the voice that shouts at us from the television, from movies, billboards and magazines, and sometimes those around us, we are not how we look. Oh, the freedom in the revelation that our "body" is not our "self."

Yes, I exercise and eat right. Yes, I know that my body is the temple of God's Holy Spirit and that my goal is to honor God with a lifestyle of progressive health and fitness. HOWEVER, it is with a total equality of value that I balance that understanding God's Word which says that while man looks at the outward appearance God looks at the heart (I Samuel 16:7). Oh, how freeing it is for us to know that God loves us unconditionally, no matter what we weigh or how we look!

I encourage you to meditate that scripture over and over until it becomes a reality to you. It is a revelation of God's unconditional love for us that frees us from trying to become something unattainable. After so many years and countless attempts at seeking after a better body, how silly I felt when the blinders were lifted off and I realized that "I am not my body!"

If you are challenged with low self esteem like I have been, allow yourself to be loved by God for who you are—for who He made you to be—from the inside out. When you were born again, God recreated your spirit in His image. Your heart is full of love, joy, peace, meekness, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, endurance and self-control. Romans 8:29 says we are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, Christ Jesus. Our reborn spirit is like God's—with the potential and His calling to become more and more like Him.

Don't be like I was and waste years trying to be something you cannot be. Just realize that God made your spirit, soul and your body and that He has a plan for your life. Accept yourself the way you are today, knowing that His love is unconditional and that He looks at your heart. Self acceptance is freeing. It takes the pressure off and allows our health and fitness goals to be about honoring God in our bodies, instead of trying futilely to prove, either to ourselves or others, that we are valuable because of how we look.

We must get to the place where any effort we make toward self-improvement should be a decision based in freedom and not under pressure. This is a right and privilege of any child of God. I pray that God will bless you as you progress in your understanding of who you are in Him.

There is nothing more powerful than a person who knows who they are in Christ Jesus.

(Note: If you are not born again, and would like to know more about Salvation, please click here.)