God Made You Well

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

In these verses from the creation account in Genesis, we find a very liberating truth: God made you well, so you don’t have to be ashamed. You—your body, your personality and your soul—were imagined and crafted by God himself. Just as Monet had to envision and then carefully paint his waterlilies, the divine artist imagined and crafted you.

You are very good. Your body is good. The essence of who you are is good.

A couple of ways this might change or affect your outlook:

• Embrace the concept of “good naked” vs. “bad naked”. Since God made your body and made it well, then your naked body is a good thing. However, nakedness can be exploited for evil. Examples of “good naked”: a mother breastfeeding her baby, a doctor examining a patient’s body, the Sistine Chapel. Examples of “bad naked”: promiscuous clothing, pornography, sexting.
• Having a sexual feeling isn’t a sin. God designed your body to react in a certain way to certain stimuli. If, for example, you spot an extraordinarily attractive person and you suddenly feel cold in your tummy and heavy between your legs, this is just your body doing what God created it to do. He created you as a sexual being and you will have sexual feelings. One word of advice: thank God for these feelings but don’t wallow in them. They’re designed for a very special purpose but will harm you if you use them in the wrong way.
• Don’t feel embarrassed or ashamed to ask questions about your body, sexuality, health or feelings. If your vagina feels itchy or uncomfortable, ask your doctor about it. If your sexual feelings are overwhelming, talk to a trusted mentor. If you are confused about God’s will concerning gender or homosexuality, study the Bible for answers. It’s so healthy and good to ask questions!