Last updated on September 5, 2020
Question:
Is it a sin to be ashamed of a certain aspect of yourself or your mother? I have insecurities about being short. Sometimes I still feel ashamed of being short. I’m embarrassed about my own height. That being said. I don’t like being seen that much next to my mother because she is super short. I don’t want to be a victim of teasing and it happened before. I know that I am not supposed to care about what other people think, but it still gets to me sometimes. I am not embarrassed because she is my mom. I love her, but I just don’t like standing next to her because of our height and it stands out. Is it a sin for me to feel this way? I mean I would never deny that she is my mother or hide from her, I just simply don’t like it when meeting strangers. I even feel embarrassed about being with friends who are as short as me. I know this is very foolish and very childish, but I had to ask.
Answer:
No one is in control of their height. “And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Luke 12:25). To make an issue out of something that a person cannot control is a form of cruelty. Yes, others are cruel when they tease you about your height, but you are turning around and being non-verbally cruel to your mother and others by also making their height an issue.
There is an interesting prophecy about Jesus, “Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none” (Psalms 69:20). Rather than extending insults, we should be fighting to combat it.
“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. … Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:29, 31-32)