Beautiful Freedom
Beautiful Freedom: How the Bible Shapes Your View of Appearance, Food, and Fitness
By: Stacy Reaoch
“We’ll be equipped to really examine our motivations— why do we eat the way we do? Why do we exercise, or not exercise? Why are we inclined to go to great lengths to look a few years younger? Why do we have this tendency or that tendency? And crucially, where is God calling us into something better? In what ways is he inviting us into freedom?”
I’ve realized lately that now, post-four-kids, I’ve thought more about my weight, the size of my clothes, my eating and exercising habits than I ever did before. My body has changed. For a good reason. But I need to reorient the way I view this change because I’m being bombarded with a lot of different opinions about how that view should be formed and I know many of those are unhealthy.
When I saw this book I knew it would be a good thing for me to read. Having finished it, I can confirm that was correct. I think any woman would benefit from reading this book.
It’s a hard book to write and I commend Stacy for taking it on. It’s difficult not to approach it wanting or expecting some hard line answers on what is right or wrong to eat or drink and how to exercise. I’m sure there will be readers unsatisfied with the book because they don’t feel like they got any ‘answers’ or a yellow brick road guiding them to fulfillment.
We also probably all come to the book with some sort of guilt that we’d like alleviated by realizing- ‘Oh I’m not doing that bad thing so what I’m doing is fine.’ And maybe it is totally fine, but this book will only be helpful if we come to honestly evaluate ourselves and our own motivations for what we do.
Even though I come away from the book still feeling a little disoriented on what my eating and exercising should look like, I don’t think Stacy left me hanging. I think she has provided the biblical and appropriate blueprint for viewing our bodies and our habits. We have to put in some work to do some honest self reflection and questioning of our motives and choices and decide what God is calling us to. It may not be an immediate lightbulb moment, but what she puts forth in this book is true and there is some freedom and diversity in how these principles get applied to our individual lives.
After reflecting on the concept of beauty itself, Stacy asks us whose kingdom we are seeking. This is a key question. Is our focus heavenward and eternal or inward and earthly?
The second part of her book covers four main areas: exercise; food restrictions; overindulgence; and beauty and aging.
She also includes an appendix about disordered eating. It’s important to note that this book is not tackling eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia, etc. Struggles to that degree will most likely require some specialized help that Stacy is not offering in these pages.
The main point Stacy makes is that any good thing can turn into a bad thing if it becomes an idol or a replacement of God.
“Idols are the thoughts, desires, longing, and expectations that we worship in the place of the true God. Idols cause us to ignore the true God in search of what we think we need.” [she quotes Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods]
Do we go first to food or exercise for comfort instead of allowing God to meet our needs?
Have we become obsessed with our bodies and our appearance or the food we eat? Are our thoughts and days consumed with trying clothes on, make-up and skin care routines, particular meal planning, diet research, and exercising?
It’s not that caring about our appearance or what we put in our bodies or what we do with our bodies is bad. Our bodies matter and what we do with them matters. But our motives matter too. It’s less about the diet and the exercise as much as it is about the heart behind it.
I think this is especially an important book to think about if you have kids. They observe the way we act and talk about ourselves, the comments we make when we look in the mirror or look at other people’s bodies. We need to be sending the right message.
After four kids, and my last two being twins that required a C-section, I developed diastasis recti which essentially makes me still look pregnant because I have no abs. Kids speak their minds and my stomach is often the topic of conversation: ‘Do you have a baby in there? Why is your stomach so big? You’re a big mommy! Look how big your tummy is!’ It gets tricky with teaching them about what we do or do not say about people’s bodies without also somehow indicating that there is a ‘right’ shape of what a body should look like.
I think it’s important for my daughters to see that having kids does change your body. And that’s not a bad thing. We don’t need to hide the evidence that we carried and delivered children. Being pregnant and having a child is a gift and a sacrifice. It’s not something to lament because it means I have to buy bigger jeans now.
My 7 year old is already very interested in make-up and fashion. I see her watching older girls and taking in what they’re wearing and what they look like. She already equates make-up with beauty. It starts young and we need to be prepared to communicate biblical truths about appearance to our kids because our culture can’t help but ingratiate us with a standard for beauty that is really hard to detach from.
Stacy rightly warns us that while ‘obsession’ is a ditch we should avoid, so too is ‘apathy.’ In order to avoid obsession we can’t just swing the pendulum the complete opposite direction and say that none of it matters and freedom means we just do whatever we want. Self-control is still a fruit of the Spirit. Our bodies are still temples and something God gave us to steward rightly.
We have to find that middle ground. And it’s not easy.
I have friends throughout the whole spectrum of eating and exercise. Friends who are very disciplined in training. Friends who are very conscious about food and doing a variety of diets. There are no carb diets, organic diets, avoiding red-dyes or processed foods. Heavy on meat. Low on fruit. High in vegetables. Cutting out sugar. No meat at all. All natural. All convenience.
I love and respect all my friends and their choices. But where does that leave me? It’s hard not to feel like there is one way to do it and I have to figure out which friend figured out the secret recipe to Christian living and eating and exercising. If we do it differently does that mean I’m doing it wrong??
Generally speaking, I think it’s created disunity in the church and in our friendships because we recognize the differences in people’s lifestyles and we don’t know what to do about it. Especially if the reasons for our choices feel really important. If something works for us or helps us we want to share it with others- Have you tried this? This will help you lose weight! This will help you feel better! This promotes gut health! Spread the good news! It’s only natural. Reasons could be physical, mental, political, fundamental, scientific, etc. and we want to inform others and help others.
We aren’t all on the same page and it feels uncomfortable.
But the Bible tells us that what we put into our bodies is not what makes us unclean. Eating food with red dye or preservatives does not make us bad people. Cutting sugar out of our diet doesn’t make us bad people. Eating fast food for dinner doesn’t make us bad people.
Food is not a moral category.
The Bible does talk about overindulgence and drunkenness so I think there are a few lines we can draw but overall we need to allow others to do things differently. You can bake sourdough bread to the glory of God and you can buy white bread from the store to the glory of God. We can also make choices to feel superior to be selfish or to be spiteful. Our motivation is important.
There is no list of do’s and dont’s here. To some degree I think I was looking for that because I want it to be simple. I just want to do the RIGHT thing. But I think that just means I need to sit with it more.
I think it would help us to talk about it with friends and see if you can pinpoint what exactly bothers you and why. See if you can determine how you truly view food and exercise. I think it’s also good to recognize where you are making good choices for good reasons. This is not an all or nothing book. Celebrate your successes and work on other parts. That’s honest.
I would definitely recommend this book because I think this concept is super relevant and would help us as a church body and in our individual relationships to find freedom from the world’s standard of beauty or from the pressures of thinking there is a ‘biblical’ diet.
I think this is an important book for Christian women to read so we can stop playing the comparison/judging/self-deprecating game.
That said, I wonder if this book would be more effective if it was read in a group of women because I think there is some processing that needs to happen and dialogue with a friend to think through some of these things.
At the same time, I think reading this book in a group could have its challenges and may create deeper divisions if the conversation gets hung up in the wrong places in an attempt to be prescriptive or persuasive.
Be wise in the group you read it with, but at the very least, share your thoughts with a trusted friend and explore how you think God may be calling you in your own life.
Stay focused on what your motivations are and how you can best serve Christ. Consider what messages you may be sending to your family and friends. Make choices that keep God in lordship of your life and your help in times of struggle. Those are the areas I think this book is meant to speak into. Carbs, dyes, sugars, cross fit, treadmills, anti-aging creams, and mascara are secondary.
“Instead of obsessing over our physical appearance or being apathetic, we can lean into the Lord for godly wisdom and self-discipline. We can look for ways to be thankful for how God created us, and we can care for our physical selves in a way that enables us to serve others. The efforts we make to strengthen our muscles, to rest, to eat nourishing foods, to offer hospitality, and to forgo our preferences for the sake of others can all be signs of the Spirit of God dwelling inside of us.”
**Received a copy of this book from The Good Book Company in exchange for an honest review.**
This book released May 1, 2024. You can order a copy of this book using my affiliate link below.
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