The areas that we potentially face wounds are as varied as we are as individuals. Some wounds are physical, others emotional, while still others are relational or spiritual. Sometimes an event or an experience causes a combination of wounds from which we need healing. On a recent episode of Your Hope-Filled Perspective, I chatted with Heather Creekmore most well known for her book and podcast entitled Compared to Who? We chatted about the pain and wounds, and now the sacred scars she has resulting from body image issues (Listen here: How to Transform Body Image Wounds into Sacred Scars with God’s Healing – Episode 300). I hope you’ll take the time to listen. Today on the blog, Heather shares additional wisdom and insight on biblical ways to combat the negative body image thoughts.
Three Biblical Ways to Combat the Negative Body Image Thoughts
By Heather Creekmore, Improvebodyimage.com
“Pink pants make your legs look big.”
This was the lie I heard when I was only nine years old, but it stuck with me for decades. I still have a hard time wearing any type of colored pants. This one little sentence that snuck into the head of a fourth-grader, still lingers in the heart of a fifty-year-old. How can that be?
1 Corinthians 13:11 instructs us to stop thinking as children. But every week I meet Christian women who, like me, still wrestle negative thoughts about their bodies that have haunted them since childhood.
You’re too pale, Hello, Casper the Ghost.
You’re too tall. No one likes tall girls.
You’re too skinny. Men want curves.
You’re too . . .
What’s been fascinating for me to observe as a Christian body image coach is how these lies don’t hold a universal standard of beauty. They condemn all sizes and shapes, skin colors, and facial features. The curly-haired are ridiculed into believing straight would look better, while those with straight hair are shamed into perms and hot rollers. The enemy presents our body issues as problems that can be solved. Yet every woman who’s gone through weight loss or surgery knows it’s never enough to cure the body image issues for good.
Making the Shaming Thoughts Stop
Of course, the one thing we all have in common is this: we want the shame to go away. We want the negative thoughts to stop. We long to rest from swirling thoughts about food, exercise, clothing sizes, and what our bodies look like. The enemy tells us this rest will come when we can just get our bodies right. He tells us that the negative thoughts will cease when you get the right look. So, we set off in hot pursuit. But we’re chasing a mirage. That oasis of cool water and respite turns out to be nothing more than a pile of sand.
Three Biblical Ways to Combat the Negative Body Image Thoughts
So how do we get the negative shaming thoughts to stop? If they won’t be silenced by reaching body goals, do we ever have a chance of finding body image freedom? The good news is, yes. Here are three strategies you can incorporate today to help you take captive those negative and discouraging thoughts about your body.
First: Hear the Lies
One of the biggest challenges for women with body image issues is hearing the lies that bounce around in their brains. For many, like me, these thoughts have been present for decades. They’re so familiar it’s difficult to see them as lies because they “seem” true. After all, if you tell the same person the same lie for decades, chances are, they’ll start to believe you.
In my 40-Day Body Image Workbook, I offer tools to help women hear the lies and then encourage them to start writing them down. Any thought that stays secretly hidden in your head can remain. But, once you commit those lies to paper, something interesting happens. You can read them and see that they’re not true.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Satan is a crafty liar. He usually presents something to us that has a grain of truth in it. But, that doesn’t mean we have to listen to him. I encourage my clients to not make Satan their life coach or accountability partner. You can completely dismiss what he says to you because his goal for your life is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).
Second: Filter the Lies
One of my favorite tools for my clients is the Philippians 4:8 filter. In this verse, Paul tells us exactly what our thoughts should be consumed with. Let’s look at it:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (NIV)
When my brain can’t stop the shaming thoughts around what my body looks like—are those thoughts admirable? When I can’t turn off the lies that I’m a failure or unlovable because my body is changing, I ask myself: Is this thought right? Is it lovely? Is it pure?
If our thoughts don’t pass the Philippians 4:8 filter, they have to be taken captive (2 Cor. 10:5) to be made in obedience to Christ. In other words, if my thoughts don’t match what Jesus would say about me, they’re just lies. They have to go. I don’t accept “my truth” and let it bog me down all day. I tell the enemy to flee.
Third: Believe that You are More Than a Body
We live in a culture that screams at us what it means to be valuable, worthy and loved. But the Bible defines beauty, love, value, and worth far differently than most Instagram influencers. Did you know the only way marketers can get you to buy something is by getting you to believe that your life will not be “good” or “acceptable” without what they’re selling? Stop chasing the lies, friend. See that your good God made your good body and His heart for you is not to be bogged down by incessant body shame. You can stop the spiral of negative thoughts. Seek help if you need it. It’s time to expose the enemy’s lying schemes and find freedom to pursue peace in Christ.
Struggling with negative body image thoughts? You’re not alone. Discover 3 biblical strategies to silence the lies and find peace in God’s truth. Share on X Tired of chasing the world’s beauty standards? Learn how to combat negative body image thoughts with these 3 powerful, Bible-based tools. Share on X
Guest:
Heather Creekmore writes and speaks hope to thousands of women each week through her books, coaching, and podcast titled, “Compared to Who?” Heather’s heart is to encourage women who struggle with body image and comparison issues and help them find the freedom to stop comparing and start living. Connect with Heather at www.improvebodyimage.com.
Connect with Heather: Website / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube
