5 Verses I Return to When My Body Feels Like the Enemy
Health and Wellness
Audio By Carbonatix
By Jess Brown, Crosswalk.com
When was the last time you looked at your phone and felt pulled to care for your health, but overwhelmed at the same time? I opened social media with my morning cup of coffee in hand (I know, bad habit), and before I knew it, I landed on a post from a woman I admire listing the top biohacking tools she says are worth the money. Red light therapy mask, a sauna, custom-made vitamins, a vibration plate — the list went on, high-priced trends with minimal research behind them, all promising an extended youth and a healthier body. I found myself wanting all of it, then feeling completely overwhelmed. As I tallied these routines up, I started wondering how I’d fit them in when some days I barely have the two minutes it takes to finish the timer on my toothbrush. And then there was a high price tag associated with each of these, which left me feeling equally overwhelmed.
Our culture is really good at offering endless lists of what we need to be healthy, and many of them are truly wonderful benefits of modern-day wellness. Each of the items she listed was helpful, and perhaps you’ve tried some of what she suggested and shared the same benefits. But what concerned me about her post wasn’t the products themselves; it was the angst I felt when I was told I needed them. I’ve heard it said that the enemy thrives when good things become god-things, and this happens all too often in the health and wellness space. As a dietitian who values the power of quality food and the stewardship of our health, I can’t help but notice how much energy we’ve directed toward wellness. When health is put on a pedestal and wellness is worshiped, it creates a spirit of angst because this is not how it was ever meant to be. It is no wonder we feel an urgent need to be “healthier” and to believe that our current bodies are broken, not good enough, or in need of fixing.
That is not what God meant when He said in Genesis, “Let us make man in our image.” The lie that your body is an enemy stems in part from what has morphed into the worship of wellness found in our present wellness-saturated culture. Here are five verses to ground yourself in the next time you feel this unwarranted pressure to fight or fix your body.
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1. Genesis 1:27
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Toy Story 5 just had another box office blowout, and the whole premise of that franchise is rooted in identity — toys belonging to their loving owners, the owner’s name written so intentionally on the bottom of each one. It’s a story about remembering who you belong to. Genesis 1:27 is our version of that name on the bottom of the foot. Remembering it is the cornerstone of peace within our physical body. When we’re bombarded with rules about what our bodies are supposed to look and be like, we get distracted from that original identity statement.
I’ve seen this for years working with individuals with eating disorders. Research shows people engage in disordered eating for two primary reasons: a drive for thinness so strong they’re willing to hurt their body to attain it, or so much shame about their body that changing it feels like the only path to worth. If you’ve struggled with an eating disorder or know someone who has, you know the grip this kind of body discomfort can have on a life. I lived that battle for two years, and after recovery, built the early part of my career helping others see their own worth — so I know it well. Even without a full clinical eating disorder, I’d guess you’ve had moments when your body has felt like it isn’t enough. These struggles are nuanced and deserve real support and therapy. Still, at the heart of every one of them is a crisis of forgotten identity. As you move toward peace with your body, whatever that looks like this season, may you carry Genesis 1:27 on the bottom of your shoe, reminding you who you belong to.
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2. Jeremiah 17:7
“Blessed is he who trusts in the Lord, who puts his confidence in Him. For he is like a tree that sends its roots out to the stream. He has no fear when the heat comes, for his leaves are always green. He has no worries in seasons of drought, for he never fails to produce fruit.”
Juan Ponce de León’s 1513 voyage to Florida was in pursuit of the Fountain of Youth — a mystical water source that promised a way to hold on to youth’s fleeting gifts. I often wonder if the relentless pursuit of wellness in today’s culture is much the same voyage. Youth was never meant to be held onto for a lifetime this side of heaven, and health was never meant to be our primary pursuit on this earth.
One of the lies fed to us by wellness culture is that we’re always supposed to be “healthy.” Jesus tells us in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! For I have overcome the world.” Of course, we want to steward what we’ve been given well, but that pursuit can turn into a never-ending goose chase. There was no Fountain of Youth, and there’s no Fountain of Health either. Instead of making wellness trends a priority, what if we used them as tools and stayed rooted in the One who provides unlimited resources? I imagine my health like the tree in Jeremiah 17:7 — rooted close to the Spirit who supplies all I need. While I work toward whatever health goal I’m pursuing, I do it with discipline and yet stay delightfully detached from the outcome. What a peaceful perspective — no matter what happens, God never ceases to produce fruit. What a relief to release the pressure to be perfect in today’s wellness culture.
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3. 1 Timothy 1:7
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind.”
This verse lights me up. As a woman who grew up in the 90s, I’m used to messages telling me I don’t have autonomy over my own body — anyone who survived the era of magazine diets knows we were told, for decades, that our bodies couldn’t be trusted with food or with imperfect eating. Today’s world offers its own version of that pressure, with social media serving us “expert” opinions like water out of a firehose. No wonder we often feel uncomfortable in our own skin.
What I love about this verse is that it tells us exactly what God gave us: a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind. So anything outside of that — fear, disdain, overwhelm — isn’t actually from Him. That’s a comfort on the days my body isn’t what I hoped for or when I’ve come through a season of struggle, and my body has taken the brunt of it. This verse reminds me that I always have the autonomy to do what God wants me to do with power, in love, and with intention.
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4. 2 Corinthians 3:17
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
Inviting God into your health journey means you get to bring discernment — and relief. The beauty in this is that God designed your body, so who better to invite into the conversation? Any food rule or body thought that doesn't leave you feeling free is not from God.
The last car I owned had a broken horn. When someone cut me off, I'd slam the wheel and get silence. No horn. No voice. So the first time I sat in a car with a working horn, I honked at everything — cars, pigeons, my kids, all of it. That's what it feels like when we finally start to see the lies we've been fed about our bodies.
The lie that you're not worthy of love and companionship because you aren't healthy enough. Honk!
The lie that you have to obsess over food. HONK!
The lie that your body isn't worthy of nice clothes because it isn't the right size. Honk! Honk!
After years of silence, you have a working horn. Use it. Loudly and often.
A pastor of mine once said, "Culture is what we passively allow or actively choose." Most of the whiplash in our story wasn't chosen — it was allowed, because no one ever told us we had a say. Now you know what to say. So honk at the lies. Call them what they are. And know that you are free from them as you watch the Spirit work in your day-to-day.
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5. 1 Corinthians 10:31
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
So often, diet and exercise goals invite us to become a better version of ourselves — but it's all too easy to lose sight of the greater purpose behind them. I see this unfold in client after client: someone works hard toward a healthier version of themselves, only to end up drowning in shame and disappointment the moment they don't follow the plan perfectly. The all-or-nothing mentality is rampant in health and wellness culture. One skipped workout, one "bad" meal, and the whole effort feels ruined. The problem is not the goal itself; it’s forgetting why the goal matters.
What I love about this verse is that it invites us to keep God at the center of it all — and reminds us that this is true even in something as ordinary as eating. So not "eat perfectly for the glory of God." Not "exercise flawlessly for the glory of God." Just: whatever you do, do it for Him.
Imagine looking at your diet and exercise not as a set of rules to obey, but as an act of worship. A missed workout doesn't disqualify you. An imperfect meal doesn't undo you. Because the goal was never perfection — it was presence. It was offering your ordinary, everyday choices back to the One who gave you the body in the first place.
When you eat, eat for His glory. When you move your body, move for His glory. And when you fall short of whatever plan you set for yourself, remember: grace was never conditional on your discipline. So let this verse loosen your grip on perfection and hand the whole pursuit — food, fitness, and all — back to God.
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