If I Were The Devil

If I were the devil,

I’d go after the new mother, whose daughter was just born. I’d whisper “look at your body, so ugly and worn.”

You see if I were the devil, I wouldn’t tell her to sin. No, I would be much more subtle, And make her ashamed of her own skin.

I’d fill her head with thoughts of comparison. You don’t look like her, or like her, You are not worthy, unless you are thin.

So every time you walk by a mirror, You critique and judge, filled of shame and fear.

You stop eating sugar, bread, and even fruit, Because remember, it has carbs too.

Workout in the gym every day and don’t go soft,

Remember: no days off.

Your love for baking becomes hate, Because the delicious food is practically bait.

You used to love that donut shop by your home, but now it’s too tempting, especially when you’re alone.

You used to listen to your friends talk, But now you can’t hear them over your intrusive cravings and thoughts.

You calculate calories like you think you should. Your husband wants a pizza date night, but you say no, I’m trying to be "good."

You can’t stop thinking about the bread at dinner,

You think, “maybe I can eat bread again, once I’m thinner.”

But the cravings consume you and you say “okay one piece.” I’ll workout tomorrow, hopefully my cravings will cease.

But once you start, you feel consumed. You might as well keep going, your diet is ruined.

And so your diet becomes an idol, the scale your god, Waiting for your body to become something you can applaud.

Yes, as the devil I would smile, As you become anxious, distracted, fearful and lost, As you try to grasp for worth at all cost.

You see when the devil makes a mother forget her own worth, He knows he has a shot, at the one who was just birthed,

Because the daughter will learn where her value lies, From the mother who forgot, she is also a daughter of Christ.