Have you ever looked in a mirror and picked out all the things you don’t like about yourself? Or have you ever wished you didn’t have to deal with your particular pain, disease, or handicap? I have.

And then after I wish my body was different, I wish my inner person was different. I wonder if I’ll ever rise above my negative opinion of myself, or end my perpetual striving to look better, feel better, and do better.

But wait! There is a better to be had. On this blog I want to take you through some scriptures that helped me see things clearly.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh [the physical is merely physical], and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.‬‬

John‬ ‭3‬:‭6‬ ‭AMP

I hate to tell you this but your body was given to you by your parents. This is where my title comes from. My physical body is just physical. My body is subject to genetics, how I treat it, and the physical nature of our world.

This week I understood that I needed to come to terms with me. I’m unique. The recipe that made me can never be replicated. This me is all I have to offer. This is what I have to work with.

I want to show you some more scriptures. But before I do, look at the last part of the verse above. The Spirit births our spirit. This is what Jesus refers to when he tells Nicodemus that he must be born again.

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.‬‬

2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬ ‭NLT

Our bodies get older—don’t I know it—but our spirits don’t age. Every day begins fresh.

We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Again this verse takes us from our physical reality to our spiritual status. Our body is called a temple for the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 6:19. Our spirit (birthed by the Spirit) cohabitates with God’s Spirit within our physical bodies.

For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us! For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed. For we know that the whole creation has been moaning together as in the pains of childbirth until now. [Jer 12:4, 11] And not only this, but we too, who have the first fruits of the Spirit [a joyful indication of the blessings to come], even we groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for [the sign of] our adoption as sons—the redemption and transformation of our body [at the resurrection]. [2 Cor 5:2, 4; Eph 4:30]

In the same way the Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words.

I hope you notice all the groaning going on in this passage. I sure did. I quoted this passage to show that all of creation, including us humans, are waiting for what the Spirit is doing in us. For the children of God to be revealed. But God is not waiting around. The Holy Spirit is interceding. He’s taking our unspoken needs and requests and turning them into actionable prayers that will align with God’s will for us. 🤯

There are two more scriptures that helped me.

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

For now we see but a faint reflection of riddles and mysteries as though reflected in a mirror, but one day we will see face-to-face. My understanding is incomplete now, but one day I will understand everything, just as everything about me has been fully understood.‬‬

1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭12‬ ‭TPT

If the last scripture was full of groaning, this set is about our life being hidden and obscure. We are like Clark Kent on the outside, but truly we are Superman. We have a vibrant secret life bubbling up inside us like a fresh water spring. That brought up one more verse.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.‬‬

John‬ ‭7‬:‭38‬-‭39‬ ‭ESV

And this is what I’m learning, my life in the Spirit is of more consequence than my physical being. Whatever limitations that I have, whether real or imagined, they don’t disqualify me from the full life God has for me.

May the Spirit groan and bubble-up for you.

Grace & Peace,

Sandy

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