From Hilary Tompkins: We frequently hear about women’s struggles with body image. It’s easy to find advice on ways to manage this pervasive issue, but our greatest problem is that we remain fixated on our bodies instead of our hearts. Here, in part one of a series, Lanna Andersen wisely proposes another way, pointing out four familiar but sinful strategies we’ve employed and issuing a call to fight the spiritual battle that is inherent in our self-love and self-loathing. Are you looking for a way off the treadmill of lies and shame? Join us for this series and, if you’re in the Seattle area, for our Image: A Theology of Beauty training day, where we’ll explore sin, shame, and the freedom worshipping Jesus brings.

My mom once remarked to a pastor at our church that nearly all of the women who entered the doors were sizing one another up, comparing themselves to one another. He was shocked that the number would be so high.

But it’s true. We notice the woman who just had a baby and is back into normal jeans. We notice the woman who seems to have put on a little weight, or chopped off her hair, always sizing up our comparative beauty next to hers. But isn’t this just something women do? Don’t all women worry about their body image?

It raises the question: why do we care so much?

What is body image?

The term “body image” was first coined in the 1930s and refers to a person’s subjective perception of their own physical appearance, usually in relation to how others see them or some cultural “ideal.” Body image is shaped and reinforced by our culture, and never before have people been so continuously and forcefully bombarded with images of a cultural ideal of beauty. We have created it, and we are consumed by it.

Isn’t this just something women do? Don’t all women worry about their body image?

Common Christian solutions to a woman’s struggle with body image don’t go deep enough (as evidenced by the fact that this issue is still rampant in the church). That’s why I’m not going to talk about how to steward our bodies well or that we’re “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Those things are good, but they’re not enough. We’re going to talk about our hearts. We’re going to talk about why we, as Christian women who know our identity is in Christ, still struggle with body image.

Who told you?

One of the saddest verses in the Bible is Genesis 3:8: “And [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden… and the man and his wife hid themselves.” Before sin, they were naked, unashamed, and experiencing the fullness of communion with God and one another. But suddenly, everything had changed.

God asked them, “Who told you that you were naked?” It’s as if he said, “Hiding? Covered? This isn’t how I left you. Who have you been listening to?”

Sometimes I wonder if God looks down on his beloved daughters and thinks, “This is not what I intend for you. Who have you listened to? Who told you beauty looks a certain way? I told you that your beauty comes from me.”

We’ve given up ground

Sadly, like Adam and Eve, we have conceded ground to the Enemy. Struggling with body image is not what our loving Father intends for his daughters. How have we gotten to the place of caring so much about our appearance? Here are four ways we’ve given up ground to the Enemy:

1. We don’t live in the truth that we claim to believe

There is usually a gap between what we say we believe and how we operate in our lives. Too often, we read our Bibles, thank God for the dose of encouragement, and go on about our day. But here’s the problem: the Bible tells us who God is and who we are, but if we fail to put God’s word into practice in the little details of our lives, we forget who we are (James 1:23–24).

Struggling with body image is not what our loving Father intends for his daughters.

The more we fully believe, love, and obey Scripture, the less we will be preoccupied with our appearance or what others think about us. So how are you doing? Do you worry about your appearance? Are you asking God to help you love and obey Scripture in all areas of your life?

2. We are foolish about temptation

We are bombarded with images and information more than any other people in the history of the world. It is everywhere, all the time, and disproportionately from sources that don’t have biblical values. Culture’s line of what is acceptable, preferable, and praiseworthy is always moving. The Bible’s standards never move.

The stream of images and information tempts us to pursue culture’s standards of beauty, and we have been naïve about how much of this temptation we can handle (James 1:14–15). When media consumption goes unchecked, preoccupation with body image is sure to follow.

What needs to change in your media consumption? What movies, television, websites, and social media do you need to cut back on (or maybe even refrain from)?

3. We have harbored secret sin      

It’s a well-known fact that women often sin in their minds. “But aren’t body image issues just something all women deal with?” you ask yourself. “And isn’t comparison just something all women do?”

Yes, even God’s women have these thoughts, but God’s women should also repent of such thoughts. Your value is not in your body, what you eat, or how many calories you burn. Your worth is in Christ alone. The same goes for the woman sitting in front of you in church.

Culture’s line of what is acceptable, preferable, and praiseworthy is always moving.

So when these thoughts come into your mind, confess them and repent—to God, to your husband, to one another. Bring them to light, disarm them, and receive the freedom that comes from forgiveness (1 John 1:6–7). What body image sins do you need to repent of, and who are you going to talk to about them?

4. We have sought worldly solutions

What’s weird about culture is that it not only proposes an ideal of beauty, but also recognizes that the “ideal” can never be attained. The solution is to “love your body,” to “embrace your curves,” and to make sure that we speak positively to the women around us (especially our daughters).

In a sense, that can sound correct even to our Christian ears. But those solutions are like seeing weeds in your lawn and mowing over them, thinking they’re gone. The roots are still there, and they pop back up. As Christians, we take it a step further even, using misquoted verses, such as, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

The entire verse says, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well.” (Psalm 139:14). Instead of pointing to our Creator and his glory, we use these out-of-context verses to “love our bodies” and worship ourselves. This approach is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a cultural solution with a biblical façade. What worldly solutions do you need to leave behind?

Body image destroys

I’m sure this all seems very intense, but I’m speaking from firsthand experience. I used to have “acceptable” and “unacceptable” foods and keep the day’s calorie count in my head.  I used to compare myself to every woman I’d see—in church, in the media, even in the grocery store. I’ve stood in front of the mirror realizing that my post-baby body is most definitely not the same as it once was. I felt like I didn’t measure up, and I never would.

What body image sins do you need to repent of, and who are you going to talk to about them?

The fact is that any struggle over your body image is serious business. It is spiritual warfare. It is a fight in your heart and mind over truth and lies, over shame and freedom, over sin and repentance. Battling body image is not what our loving Father intends for his daughters.

Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection has broken the bonds of body image, but we must let go of the chains.