What is body image idolatry? First I want to define what an idol is. An idol is something you think about all the time or something that you give all your attention to. For Christians, it is something that you put before the Lord.
You want to lose weight. You want to fit in with the ladies at church. You want clear skin. You want better hair. You want kids that will listen to you or a husband who will pay attention to you.
You get the idea.
Body image idolatry is when you focus all your energy on how your body looks. You say “Everything will be great once ……..happens.” “Once I lose some weight everything in my life will be much better.”
DIETING AND EXERCISE ARE NOT A BAD THING
Wanting to be attractive is not evil in and of itself. Going on a diet and exercising is good for your body. All those things are not a sin. But when it becomes obsessive and takes the place of God in our hearts that’s when that good thing becomes an idol.
QUESTIONS TO REFLECT ON
So ask yourself these questions. If your answer is anything other than Jesus, then you may have an idol in your life.
What do you talk about more than anything else?
What would make you happy?
What is your first thought when you wake up in the morning?
What do you go to when you need comfort?
What are you spending your money on?
YOUR BODY IS A TEMPLE FOR GOD
For those of you who know Jesus as your savior, your body is the dwelling place of the holy spirit, a gift from God when you asked the Lord into your life (1 Corinthians 6:19). He is there to help you become more like Christ. So yes you should strive to eat in ways that help your body bring glory to God (1 Corinthians 10:31). But not in a way that becomes all you think about.
God says that you are not to worry about what you eat because the kingdom of God is not about eating or drinking but about righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy spirit (Romans 14:17).
This doesn’t mean that you can eat whatever you want, but if you focus too much on your diet or exercise while trying to achieve your ideal body shape or weight, you are robbing yourselves of the joy and peace of the holy spirit.
MAN’S WISDOM IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST WISDOM
When the Lord showed me that I was idolizing my body by obsessing over dieting and my looks, he graciously started to tell me that I only needed to pay attention to his words and ways, not what other people are doing with their diets and their looks.
He showed me not to rest on man’s wisdom, but to rest on his power and wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:5). For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight ( 1 Corinthians 3: 19).
As I kept praying for that miracle formula to help me lose weight he shows me 1 Corinthians 1:27 which says, God chooses the foolish to shame the wise, the weak to shame the strong, and the insignificant to be viewed as significant.
Today you may be wrestling with the thought that if you had a better-looking nose everything would be all right. But the thing is if you went out and had plastic surgery and fixed your nose the next day there will be something else you will want to change.
So we must learn to look at these things in a new way.
RENEWING YOUR MIND
When you start to feel like you aren’t good enough or you aren’t pretty enough you need to switch those negative thoughts over to positive thoughts. And to do that you will need to know some verses to claim over yourself.
This is called Renewing your mind. Paul speaks of this in Romans chapter 12.
Romans 12:2 - Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.
VERSES TO HELP YOU RENEW YOUR MIND
So first I want to share with you some of those verses that you can repeat in your mind or out loud over and over to help you overcome the negative self-talk.
Proverbs 31:30 says, "Charm is deceptive and beauty does not last but a woman who obeys and respects the Lord will be greatly praised."
I don’t know about you but if God says that beauty does not last and that someone who obeys and respects the Lord will be praised, I would want to strive for that rather than my looks. I want to be praised by God. I want him to tell me “Well done my good and faithful servant!”
“Wouldnt you?”
Another good verse is found in Psalms.
Psalms 139:14 says, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
And this verse that I found in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 was when the Apostle Paul was speaking to the people of Corinth.
verse 3-4 says, "I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human; indeed I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that doesn't make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
What Paul is trying to say here is that it doesn’t matter what others think of him and comparing himself to other people is pointless. All that matters is what God thinks of him.
CONCLUSION
God doesn’t want us to compare ourselves to other people or have a body idolatry issue because he made each and every one of us unique. He has a different plan for each of us. What may be good for someone else may not be good for you. And what may be right for you may not be right for someone else. We were made for a purpose and that purpose is to spread the gospel and glorify God.
If you have a comparison or idolatry issue please tell us about it in the comments below. Let’s be an encouragement to each other! If you like this post could you please share it with others? Thank you for helping me spread the gospel! And don’t forget to subscribe to my email list in the box that says “join the rest” so you can receive my newest blog posts in your inbox once a week.
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