Get Real

This weekend I am giving a talk about body image at the Get Real women's conference. Thought I'd share an exerpt from this talk:

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, but this temple is outwardly wasting away. It’s the inward that is being renewed and it is the part we should pay careful attention to. The inward should direct the outward, not the other way around. Too often, we allow our outward bodies to determine who we are or how we feel. We focus on our imperfections and we allow this to produce:

· self hatred

· self fixation

· lack of confidence

· inability to live out our calling

This should not be! In his amazing book, The Gift of Being Yourself, David Benner says this:

"Unless we spend as much time looking at God as we spend looking at our self, our knowing of self will simply draw us further into an abyss of self-fixation.” I must say, that is the thing that motivates me most to continually work toward overcoming this “thorn” of a poor body image. Because when I am in my most miserable battles with it, I am totally fixated on me. How sinful and selfish of me! God does not call me to be self fixated. The two most important things that Jesus has reiterated are these:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-38

We cannot love God and love others when we are fixated on self flagellation!

So how do we combat this? I would offer two ways:

1. We concentrate on knowing God.

2. We concentrate on knowing what God says about US.

Both of these involve the practice of spiritual disciplines, especially being in God’s word daily. I want to offer you some scriptures that will help you right away today to know what God says about you and how He feels about you.

"The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your Lord." Psalm 45:11

Did you get that? The KING of KINGS and Lord of Lords is enthralled with your beauty! You are a daughter of the King and that is what gives you your worth. Not some shallow expectation from a lost and dying world; a world where the Prince of Darkness runs rampant and has been given full reign to reek havoc. He wants nothing more than to destroy God’s beloved and will use any means available to him. Don’t buy into his schemes.

“The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17

“Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings.” Psalm 17:8

Knowing that God, the creator of the universe, takes great delight in me and has me as the apple of His eye overshadows any low opinion I might be tempted to have of myself. God trumps Laurie every day of the week. And He trumps you too.