What a Sacred Gift

It has struck me at various times throughout my life that our physical bodies are a precious gift from God. I am in awe at the complexity of the human body, as well as how many things our bodies are constantly doing that we never even realize. I feel that is the way that our relationship with God is sometimes too. There are so many things God constantly does for us, but we hardly ever realize what most of them are.

Anyway, back to the topic of that sacred gift God has given us of our bodies. The scriptures teach us how we should think of our bodies and what our attitude toward them should be. "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). What do you think of when you picture a temple? God considers your body to be a temple, and expects you to respect it as such.

In the LDS Church, we are encouraged to be modest in the way we dress. This is a very important way of showing our respect for our bodies. We are taught to be virtuous in our thoughts and actions, and any time that we don't dress modestly we are not encouraging those virtuous thoughts and actions for those of the opposite gender.

I don't mean to get off on a personal tangent here, but I will for just a moment. PLEASE do not take offense at what I say here about how we dress. Even here at BYU where LDS teachings are incorporated into every subject that is taught, it seems that a lot of people don't quite get it. The BYU Honor Code, which we each sign in order to be a student here, requires modesty from men and women all the time. Yet I often see girls who are more than likely BYU students jogging around Provo in shorts that hardly go past their butt and shirts that reveal far too much. There are also many who don't seem to understand how much of a difference it makes to wear a one-piece swimsuit instead of a bikini. Modesty is not a standard that gets removed when you go jogging, dancing, swimming, to the gym, or doing anything else. Honestly, seeing that is a big turn-off when I consider what I'm looking for in a girl. A question I think we should all consider - Once you go to the temple and covenant with God to wear your temple garments, are you going to need to buy a whole new wardrobe in order to do so? Will you be looking for excuses to take them off for activities you do, or will you be wearing them always? Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of people who understand why it is important to be modest at all times, and they never compromise. I respect those people profoundly. I plead with those who may not always follow that standard to do so. You don't need to show excessive skin to get attention, and that's probably not the attention you really want anyway! Girls, I can tell how beautiful you are without you showing me more of you than I should be seeing.

What an incredible gift God has given us. Our bodies are amazing! They are truly a wonderful, beautiful creation. The more I learn about how they function, the more I realize that there is no way we came into existence by accident. Accident cannot produce such perfection. I hope each of us can show God our love by showing respect and appreciation for the gifts He has given us, including our bodies.