Forgive us, The Body
Forgive Us, The Body
a prayer about 2019
Lord, forgive us for spending so much time trying to honor the body that we actually fail to honor you with it. Forgive us for over-flexing and under-stooping.
On the other hand, forgive us for not taking care of our body to the point that we fail to physically accomplish what you designed for us to do; serve others, live exceptionally, thrive, and much, much more.
Forgive us for worrying about what others see and what they perceive and how we compare to one another to the point that we forget that you love us and see yourself in us. It's you we want to mirror. Forgive us for allowing progress to become just as much of an idol as perfection.
Forgive us of our approval addiction.
Forgive us for giving social media more power over our bodies, hearts and minds than what is healthy for us spiritually, emotionally, and even physically. Forgive us for allowing our media feeds to rest unchallenged atop the mountain of our minds and to sit unrivaled on the throne of our hearts; both should be reserved for you alone.
Forgive us for either using our bodies as a platform to showcase our faith or our faith as a platform to show off our bodies. It’s impossible to promote vanity and sell modesty. We can’t fool you.
Forgive us for forgetting that when you said “Go” to the disciples, you said the same to us. It's still a call to action, to spread the gospel, to help the homeless, to minister to the marginalized and to those with disabilities and special needs. We’ve wasted so much of our health on fitness.
Forgive us for putting so much emphasis on planning and preparing what we eat before we train (fast-digesting protein and slow-digesting carbs) that we’d rather stuff a quick verse down our throat - at best - so we don’t miss the gym. Forgive us for missing the point.
Forgive us for living in either a vanity-driven paranoia or a stale state of gluttony.
Forgive us if our justification of ‘self-care’ has morphed into a combative and defensive “self-esteem-at-all-costs” obsession. Forgive us for being more concerned about straightening our crowns than we are about laying them down.
Forgive us if our “ministry” has puffed us up and lifted our chins above parallel. Forgive us if we listen for applause for our posture of worship. Our work is not the 5th gospel. We didn’t write the Bible. Forgive us for coming off as if we helped.
Forgive us for forgetting that even though life is not about the body, it's not just any body. It's yours. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. That says something profound about us, but not nearly as profound as what it says about you. Forgive us of our amnesia that we were indeed “made.”
Forgive us - the Body of Christ - for failing to celebrate that any measure of health, beginning with the motivation, the ability, the means, the work itself, and the byproducts of diligence are all gifts of grace. Forgive us if we have seemingly ignored the truth that we are only experiencing the potential you provided to us. We’re not improving your work. Forgive us for plagiarizing and withholding all credit. It’s all due to you, possible through you and held together by you.
Help us Lord. May we all recalibrate why our health, our illness and our suffering are precious to you; the source of this perfectly-designed, wonderfully made, grace-filled, small, weak and failing, temporary, awesome gift of life. Thank you for 2019 and if it is your will, please allow us another “go” in 2020. For the glory of your grace. Amen.
- Jimmy Peña
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