My ever changing Imago Dei

What if that decision you just made was the lynch pin that changes everything? If you were cognizant of that fact, would you still make it? Depends, right? Change is a daunting experience. I anticipate change being painful. Yet, in the end, it is often a blessing.

"Stay the same. Never change." - How many high school yearbooks have been signed with those words? And, yet growth is a form of change. It has been said by many an inspirational speaker, "if you aren't growing; then you are dying." My experience has taught me that many people in our lives would prefer it if we remained static, predictable, the same. However, life demands growth.

What if that small decision that you make today impacts your life in profoundly unexpected ways? Nine years ago today I made a decision. My health was good in that I wasn't sick. I'm one of those people who is just "healthy as a horse". Nevertheless, I was obese and had been for over half of my life. I decided to change my mindset towards food. I weighed myself (something I had rarely dared to do) and tipped the scales at 249 pounds. The decision I made that day was to bring my eating habits to a conscious level. I would simply begin thinking about what I was eating and would choose to eat more fruits and vegetables and less sugar and fast food. That's it. I know goals help. So...I decided that a reasonable goal was to attempt to be under 200 pounds by my 40th birthday which was basically 11 months from that date.

In the end, I radically transformed every aspect of my life.

I look different.

I feel different.

I spend my time in different ways.

I think differently.

I have different relationships with different types of people.

I work differently.

I believe differently.

But, am I different? Have I changed? I am still an image bearer of God. I was before; I always will be. We are all the Imago Dei. Am I more in God's image today than I was nine years ago? If God is unchanging, is his image reflected in me immutable? My image has changed. Some would argue that it has improved. And yet, being the Imago Dei indicates that I have value apart from my usefulness or function. I am an image bearer regardless of the image that I see in the mirror.

Nevertheless, I know that as the Imago Dei I am also the temple of the God most High. The temple can flourish and it can crumble. It is tangible, corruptible, and temporal. Yet, it is also the holy of holies. I believe that I must care for it as a place of worship and a reflection of the one I worship. We are instructed to glorify God in all things and scripture actually uses what we eat and drink as examples.

I am committed to growth. I am committed to the One whose image I bear. I am committed to being His temple. I love that part of me which reveals Him and worships Him. While I know God loves me in my fallen state and accepts me "Just as I am", I believe that I please and honor Him when I pursue holiness and strive in my infinite weakness to glorify Him in my body. Yes, as the Imago Dei I have value. However, as N.T. Wright says, “You become like what you worship.” May my image become more like His.