* “Not Good Enough?”

Form the book “Protecting Against Eternal Identify Theft:”
“Have you ever given someone a gift that you took great pains to select, pay for, wrap, and deliver only to see it soon afterward neglected, destroyed or thoughtlessly discarded somewhere? Surely it is painful to our Heavenly Father (who created these bodies) and to our Savior (who ransomed them with His excruciating sacrifice) to see them go unappreciated—or, worse, hated.
Our bodies are living things. The Light of Christ is in and through them (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:13,41). Why, then, do we often have such negative and critical feelings about them just because they don’t meet Satanically inspired standards of be perfection and beauty? That is not their purpose. They are doing their job! Hardly anyone improves under constant criticism but almost everyone improves under love and acceptance. Our bodies are intended to be loved, nurtured, appreciated, covered, protected and disciplined.
As with a spouse or child, we must stop finding fault with our bodies, forget about our need for mortal approval, and derive our self-esteem from how much the Lord loves them—not how they look to the rest of the world. Taking care of our body starts with recognizing it as the miraculous gift that it is, being grateful to the Lord for it, and showing that gratitude by loving and nurturing it. ~Barbara Lockhart, Wendy Top, Brent Top, Protecting Against Eternal Identity Theft (American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, Inc. 2013) 43.

(Posts with a preamble asterisk * are for a more general audience, and not specific to teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)