Guest Bio: Ellen Wildman holds a BA in Bible and Ministry to Women from Moody Bible Institute and a MA in Biblical and Theological Studies from Denver Seminary. Through her writing, she seeks to create space for nuance, personality, and joy within theology, believing that Christian academia has room for everyone. Her first book, Single and Not Sorry, was an Amazon bestseller in Dating and Relationships for six weeks. Ellen lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her spicy cat, Rey.

Show Summary: When someone compliments you, how do you usually respond? During those moments, it’s easy to brush off the kind words or ignore the encouragement. When it comes to our body and appearance, we often have more negative thoughts than positive. This has led Ellen Wildman on a journey to discover how God views His creation and how that can impact the way we view our own bodies. Join host Eryn Eddy Adkins and Ellen as they talk about what the Bible says when it comes to our earthly bodies. You don’t want to miss this God Hears Her conversation about body image.

Notes and Quotes:

“The biggest lie is that our body is disconnected from God and disconnected from our faith.” —Ellen Wildman

“Every part of me is made in God’s image, including my body.”—Ellen Wildman

“Sometimes God is calling me to rest in Him and it’s not by reading Scripture, but my giving me a visual of resting in His arms.” —Eryn Eddy Adkins

“I will never fully be able to accept my body outside of seeing it as God’s creation.” —Ellen Wildman

“The more I thought about being made in God’s image, the more I realized that it really affected every part of my life. It helps me to see my body as beloved and as good because it was made by God, designed by Him, and blessed by Him. It also helps me to give others more grace because I can see them as being made in God’s image.” —Ellen Wildman

“Even those who fit into the ‘ideal’ [image] are struggling with the same things.” —Ellen Wildman

“It’s not people that have created these [standards]. Maybe we perpetuate the standards a bit, but we haven’t created and maintained them. It’s really diet culture and the industry of always making us feel less-than. To me, that feels really unifying in that we can unify against them instead of against each other.” —Ellen Wildman

“The more I have worked on how I see my own body and how I feel at home in my own body has changed the way that I speak to others because I want them to feel this way too.” —Ellen Wildman

“The way we see our bodies is important, but it'’s not the most important thing.” —Ellen Wildman

“Reflecting God is an essential part of who I am. I am made in His image. His living, breathing handiwork.” —Ellen Wildman

“God created everything around me, but He only created humans in His image. We are the only thing that He created in His image. Why did He do that? What does He want me to do with that?” —Ellen Wildman

“The idea of being at home in your body helps us believe that we are worthy of self-discovery, and we are worthy of feeling at home in our bodies with God’s help.” —Ellen Wildman

Verses:

Luke 8:1-2 Mary Magdalene being healed by Jesus

Psalm 4:8

Genesis 1:27

Judges 4:4-5

Judges 5:3

Related Episodes:

GHH Ep 24 – When We Feel We Aren’t Enough with Laura Smith: https://godhearsher.org/podcast/when-we-feel-we-arent-enough/
GHH Ep 44 – The Comparison Trap with Bree Rostic: https://godhearsher.org/podcast/the-comparison-trap-with-bree-rostic/
GHH Ep 118 – Reimagining Age with Eryn & Elisa: https://godhearsher.org/podcast/reimagining-age/
GHH Ep 125 – Your True Worth with Cassandra Speer: https://godhearsher.org/podcast/your-true-worth/
GHH Ep 167 – Aging Gratefully with Heather Creekmore: https://godhearsher.org/podcast/aging-gratefully/

Links:

Already Whole Devotional: https://www.amazon.com/Already-Whole-Devotions-Being-Home-ebook/dp/B0F55RMYZN
Ellen Wildman’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellen_wildman_so/
Ellen Wildman’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellen.wildman.16
Unshakable Moxie BOGO Deal: https://go.odb.org/bogo
God Loves Her Devotional: https://a.co/d/7F8R0qC
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Shop God Hears Her books and resources: https://go.odb.org/ghh-shop191
Unshakable Moxie Series: https://read.odb.org/unshakable-moxie/
Elisa’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elisamorganauthor/
Eryn’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eryneddy/
Vivian’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vivmabuni/
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118. Reimagining Age