Body shame is an
indicator of our alienation from God, self, and others,
it is a bondage from Hell, and according to the Bible a
direct result of Satan's deception. Such shame is
often at the root of low self-esteem, depression, sexual
abuse, addictions, and more.
The purpose of this site is
to educate people about the harm of such shame from a
Christian perspective and to be a resource in breaking
its destructive grip. It's goal is to help people,
especially Christians, learn to treat the human body as
very good and holy in agreement with Scripture. To
help people focus on what God intended for our bodies
and sex, instead of how Satan and the world has
perverted them.
God did not create the human body
to be a stumbling block or temptation for His children,
God said that all of His creation is "very good".
It is sin and Satan which perverts our attitudes and
response to God's good creation.
I pray that this site
can help Christians replace sinful responses to the
human body with Godly
ones.
It's not just about
nudity
For as long as I can remember I have
known my calling to be in educating people of the harm of body
shame and to promote positive, godly attitudes toward human
nudity. But I talked with a pastor friend about this
site and while he thought that the site was very good and
Biblically based, (even though he had not thought about the
subject of nudity from a Christian perspective before!) he
felt that something was missing. That it left out a very
important part of body acceptance for Christians. He
suggested that perhaps I should be talking about sex as well
as nudity.
That took me by surprise, but it confirmed
something that I had already been thinking. Nudity and
sex are not the same thing (a point I try to make very clear)
but most people's thinking link them so strongly, and their
attitudes about both have become so perverted and ungodly,
that I feel it is difficult to address nudity without speaking
about sex as well. Can people have thoughts about the
body that honor God if their thoughts about sex are
ungodly? While the body is not sex, the human body is
sexual, we are sexual beings. So I think it is difficult
to direct people to more godly attitudes about the body and
nudity without addressing sex as well. We need to have
not just in right attitudes about nudity, but about sex as
well. The sexual union of husband and wife
is illustration and symbol of the union and love of Christ and
the Church. Sex in marriage is a wonderful,
holy, and sacred gift from God, such sex can and should be
spiritual. We need to be rooted in what God's
design and purpose for sex is. Not being firmly rooted
in that easily leads to sexual perversion.
However,
primary subject that I feel called to speak on is on shame,
body acceptance, and nudity, not sex. Therefore rather
than writing a lot about sex myself I will primarily refer
readers to what I feel are good resources from others who have
more calling and have done more study and research in that
area. There are actually a number of very
good works regarding godly sexuality already. God has
clearly called others to ministry which focuses on sex more
than He has me. As I find what I believe to be solid,
Biblically based books, resources, and ministries which focus
on the goodness and holiness of Christian marital sex, I will
include links to them here. If you would like to explore more on
the goodness and holiness of sex yourself, here are a few
books that I highly recommend to
start.
Sacred Sex: A
Spiritual Celebration of Oneness in
Marriage By: Tim Alan
Gardner
"How can I mention holiness and
sex in the same phrase?" asks Tim Gardner, the author of
Sacred Sex: A Spiritual Celebration of Oneness in Marriage.
"Well, for one thing, because God does." So begins this
thoughtful let's-talk-about-sex book for Christians. Gardner
encourages readers (i.e., married couples) to practice
unconditional acceptance of their partners' bodies and to have
a clear understanding of why God created sex in the first
place. The "big O," according to Gardner, "is not orgasm; it's
oneness." Gardner provides excellent biblical and cultural
examples of why the union of husband and wife should, as the
New Testament explains it, represent the mystery of the
relationship between Christ and the church." Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information,
Inc.
60 Things God Said About Sex
By Lester Frank Sumrall God created sex for a specific
purpose-and created it good. Sex is a gift from God. The Bible
candidly deals with sex (more so than many modern sex
manuals!), and Sixty Things God Said about Sex is forthright
in presenting the biblical view of sex as a gift from God, its
intended use, and the spiritual parallel of a husband and
wife's sexual union as a symbol of the sacred consummation of
Christ and His bride-the church.
In this straightforward explanation
of the biblical view of sex, Lester Sumrall will show you that
the best way to have sex is God's way. This book is perfect
for couples about to get married, parents who think it's about
time to have "that talk" with their child, or anyone who finds
that the world's view of sex isn't all it's cracked up to
be. I am sure that there will be
many more books added as resources, that I'll add to this list
but these are a very good place to start! I highly
recommend them.
Sincerely,
David
Blood (I will again be using my real name
from now on, not Nate Dekan)
How You Can
Help
The purpose of this site is to help free people from the
bondage of body shame, to confront the stronghold of body
shame and break it's power, as well as to help people develop
more Godly, wholesome, and healthier attitudes toward the
human body which God created and called "very good".
Such a stronghold won't just vanish without resistance or
putting up a fight. Therefore I request continuing
prayer from Christians who believe in and support the purpose
and mission of this site. Pray that people will be open
and responsive to the message of this site, pray for my
ability to continue this site, and pray for my direction and
wisdom when responding to those who oppose me and this
message, or people who contact me through the site, that God's
freedom, truth, love, and grace will minister to them through
the site and any correspondence from myself or others
associated with the site. And pray for those who contact me
through the site expressing needs and concerns. Most
important, pray for those who oppose this work, say false
things, make it difficult, and put up resistance. Pray
for them with prayers of love, forgiveness, the opening of
eyes, harts, and repentance.
Also very important, share
the information on this site with others! This site does
little good if only a few see it, it needs to be shared with
others and you can help do that. You don't have to tell
anyone how you feel about what's on the site, whether you
agree with it or not. Simply tell them you would like
their opinion, you would like to know what they think about
it. If they are receptive, great, that could help open
some eyes and harts. If someone strongly disagrees with
how you feel about this site, don't push it or argue, just
thank them, wipe the dust off your feet (so to speak) and move
on. If you tell someone about this site, and they tell
someone, who tells someone, etc. and others do the same, this
message could have a great impact very quickly.
To
share the site with others you can send links from the site
(such as the home page at http://www.RejectShame.com ) to
family, friends, pastors, etc. or with most email programs you
can even send whole pages! You can also help be
contributing your story or comments to the site. If you
have a story, experience or thought about how rejecting shame
has benefited you or your family, you can share that on our Testimonies
page. If you have a comment about how this site
may have helped you, you can share it on our
Comments
page. Personal stories can have a great impact in
helping others, we hope that you will share yours.
Thank you for your help and prayers.
In Christ,
David Blood
I would like to
extend special thanks to...
All
who pray for and help support this site.
All
who help promote this site and help educate society about
body-shame and respect.
