The Lie That Keeps On Taking

As a Christian, it's hypocritical to say, "My body, My choice."

When giving your life to Christ, you offered your body as a living sacrifice and were called to renew your mind towards the ways of God and not of men. (Romans 12:1-2, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Not only that, God, the creator of the universe, the designer of human life, agrees that life is formed at conception (Jeremiah 1:4-5, Psalm 139:13-16). I understand one of the arguments is "but that's your interpretation" but these Bible verses are very clear. Either you believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God written by men or you don't. If you don't, then I would suggest being called something different then a follower of Christ. If you do, then you have to agree on what the Bible says even if you disagree with what the Bible actually says.

Having those disagreements and going to God with them, opens a dialogue between you and Him. It creates a relationship with Him where He can help you understand those things. Your disagreements do not scare God, He welcomes them. Your questions do not confuse God, no matter how much they may stump some Christians. There were times when I didn't agree with something I read or found it difficult to understand why a loving God would allow such awful things to happen in the Bible and in my daily life. After building a relationship with God, I have learned more about those things, and it boils down to four things: God's holiness, free will, sin, and Jesus.

For example, let's breakdown "my body, my choice."

God created us in His image. (Genesis 1:27) Even though God is all-powerful He never imposes His will upon us without our permission. Sex outside of the boundaries that God has set (marriage) is a sin. Regardless of hetero, homo, or bestial sex, it's a sin (Leviticus 18). If you are married, then the two of you become one flesh: my body is my husband's, my husband's is mine but not in a possessive, abusive way; but in the way of a couple dancing in perfect counts. They are synchronized and move together accordingly (Genesis 2:24). When we actively choose to sin, we create a distance between us and God, and because of His holiness, He hates sin. God had a perfect world with His creations and when sin entered, it separated men from God (Genesis 3). But God had already devised a plan to save the people that choose Him through Jesus, (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.) With Jesus dying on the cross for each person that was ever created and will ever be created, He paid a price with His life for our lives. Paying a price for someone means that you own that person. However, because God gave us free will, He allows us to choose Him instead of forcing us to bow down to His will. He knows that He created us and He gives us each breath we take, and He knows Jesus died for us. But God will only call out to you and wait patiently for you to agree to be His.

To say "my body, my choice" dismisses all that God has and will ever do for you. Christians who utter these words throw out the Gospel and the rest of the Bible along with it. These are conflicting beliefs, and you can truly only believe one or the other. You did not even have a say in how you were created and how you came to be, so I find it difficult to understand how you can have a say in the creation of another.

"My body, my choice" is not just about abortion.

It's about anything that makes any changes to your body without God's approval: tattoos, piercings, body modifications, anything. It boils down to you saying that you know what's best for your body when you were not even the one that created your body. We are the children of God and when we don't communicate with Him about these things, we step out of alignment. If my 11-year-old son went and got a tattoo of my name without my permission, it doesn't matter that it's my name. I would be grieved that he got it without my permission and guidance. God feels the same every single time we do this. He grieves every time we alter our bodies because to Him you were already beautiful, (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He made you perfect. God created you and called you good. There was no flaw that He saw when He created you.

"My body, my choice" strips the beauty that you are and perverts it with pride, arrogance, and selfishness. It creates a narrative that causes you to be the author of your own life, and that becomes a trap of bad decisions and regret. You can't see the future; we are beings of the present. Taking our own lives in our hands to control as we see fit leads to unforeseeable trauma. That trauma then leads to future generations struggling to mature while constantly being wounded from those who haven't healed from the choices of what they've done.

"My body, my choice" is the lie that keeps on taking.

Therefore, as Christians, we should cast down that thought and lifestyle. We should no longer walk in that worldly mindset. We must renew our minds and continue to live, grow, and walk in the likeness of God (Ephesians 17-24). We must learn to honor God with our bodies, and in return, He will give us the love and the strength to endure what has happened in our lives that caused us to do the things we've chosen to do to our bodies. If we honor Him with our bodies, He will also give us the love and the strength to endure the things that happened to our bodies that were also not our choices.

Romans 12:1-2	
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will."

1 Corinthians 6:19-20  
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies."

Jeremiah 1:4-5	
"The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you,
 before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Psalm 139:13-16  
"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

TFSx Monique Thompson

07.12.22