Battling Negative Body Image

Though it may not be a comfortable topic nor one that is normally addressed in Christian circles, battling a negative body image is a common struggle. If you’re like me, this struggle may have even shaped your life in significant ways.

Very simply, body image is the way you picture your outer self. When that mental image is skewed, a battle results, even if the perception of your body doesn’t reflect reality. Whether we dislike a certain feature like skinny arms or freckles or we are critical of our weight or wish we were taller, most of us find something about our bodies to be bothersome.

The trouble is that a negative body image rarely remains contained to occasional frustration—it quickly grows to impact how we function. Adverse thoughts about how our bodies look often spur negative feelings about ourselves—about our value, our ability to contribute to society, and even our perception of our worth to others. To make things worse, those feelings may even lead to bodily harm as a way to cope with difficult emotions or to force our bodies to measure up to the desired ideal.

Eating disorders, over-exercise, steroid use, anxiety, depression, and even cutting can all stem from an unhealthy body image. Negative body image can also lead to an obsession with working out, extensive social media use, plastic surgery, and maintaining strict eating routines. Fixation on improving your appearance may even interfere with daily priorities like schoolwork or a job. Ultimately, negative body image can end up consuming just about everything you do.

Unfortunately, this struggle pervades our society and culture.

Constant Bombardment

Throughout the day, we are bombarded with a variety of influences that can cause us to feel bad about our bodies. In fact, these messages are so common that it can be hard to avoid even ordinary triggers that cause dissatisfaction over our physical appearance. Consider the following examples:

• The mirror – Each time you look in a mirror, it may tempt you to focus on what you don’t like about your body.
• Others – When you don’t like your body, it becomes easier to compare it to others who you feel have the perfect body.
• Social media – Every time you scroll through social media, it presents an opportunity to find new ways your body doesn’t measure up.
• Your mind – If you beat yourself up over the way you look, the cycle of negative thoughts and feelings about your body can grow worse.
• The culture – Confusing messages about being male or female devalue the body and can create or exacerbate body image issues.

Stages and Phases

It’s likely that one or more of these influences sound familiar. This may surprise you—you may think that teenage girls are the only ones who entertain a negative body image—they’re often the target of the most pressure. But there are many phases of life where we could be most vulnerable to feel like we don’t measure up. As we age and our bodies change, those changes may lead to adverse thoughts about our physical appearance. Think about how the following life stages, from young to old, all impact thoughts and feelings about the body:

• Children begin to notice physical differences from a very a young age. Boys who are smaller than their classmates may be made fun of. Girls who are larger than their peers may feel they don’t fit in.
• Both girls and boys experience significant physical changes during puberty, and if these changes happen earlier or later than their peers, it can cause a negative perception of their bodies.
• In high school and college, the social pressures of achieving a certain physical appearance can fuel comparison and obsession, worsening an unhealthy body image.
• For women, the physical changes from pregnancy can create all new areas of body dissatisfaction, while men who gain weight or lose their younger physiques with age may perceive their bodies negatively.
• When our bodies begin to fail us in old age, we may encounter a new struggle with body image that we never battled before. What happens when our bodies keep us from engaging in life the way we want?

Whether from outside influences or life stage physical change, we will all face a time when we’re tempted to think poorly about our bodies. Learning to fight a negative body image early in life can make a big difference in how we approach these challenges in the future.

The Bodies God Gave Us

Engaging in this fight is even more important for followers of Christ. As Christians, battling lies and skewed self-perception is critical because we want to live in the freedom and security of who we are in Christ, and we desire our thoughts about ourselves to reflect what God says and what God sees when he looks at us. Negative body image doesn’t honor God. But the good news is that he can and will help set us free from our troubled thinking. He understands our struggles and equips us to fight the negative thoughts, adverse feelings, and harmful actions that revolve around our bodies.

How can Christians fight a negative body image?

First, we must know what God says about the body. Second, we rejoice in these truths, and with the Spirit’s help, choose to believe them. While knowing and believing God’s Word can be a moment-by-moment struggle, God helps us when confronted with lies and distortions.

The following truths from Scripture are vital components to fighting a negative body image. Ponder these verses and ask the Lord to help you believe them, choosing to live out of these truths rather than spiraling in negative body thoughts.

• God created you as a soul and body being, made in his image as a male or female, and filled with value and dignity as his embodied image-bearer. Genesis 1:26–28
• God intricately formed your body, knitting it together so that you can live out the days he planned for you before you were born. Psalm 139:13–16
• God desires you to use your body for righteous living. Romans 6:12–14
• God makes your body his temple and calls you to glorify him with it. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20
• God promises to transform your body to be like Christ’s glorious body. Philippians 3:20–21

Once we what God says about our bodies, we fight to listen and allow his Word to reshape our negative body thoughts. This exchange of God’s truth for lies can be challenging. But remember God gives his children the ability to fight an unhealthy body image. Here are a few verses that will strengthen you with divine power as you engage in that battle.

• 1 Corinthians 15:57 assures us that in Christ we have gained ultimate victory.
• Galatians 5:22–23 promises that we possess the Holy Spirit’s fruit of self-control.
• 2 Corinthians 10:3–5 calls us to capture negative thoughts and make them obey Christ.
• Philippians 4:8 exhorts us to proactively meditate on whatever is true, just, pure, honorable, and lovely.
• Colossians 3:2 reminds us to set our mind on things that honor God.

The first two verses help believers know that we can trust Christ’s victorious defeat of sin and the Holy Spirit’s power in us. These powerful sources of divine strength help us take control over things that don’t please God or reflect his goodness, including our thoughts. We don’t have to be victims of any lies, particularly entertaining the discouraging thoughts that arise from a negative body image. We can battle this thinking by trusting in Christ’s victorious work and relying on the Holy Spirit’s presence.

The other three verses encourage us to take thoughts captive, think only things praiseworthy and true, and set our mind heavenly things. These imperatives may seem like impossibilities. But remember, God would never command us to do something that he does not give us the ability to do. When it comes to negative body image, these commands mean that God’s power enables us to stop bad thoughts, choose to believe truth over lies, and set our minds what helps instead of hurts us.

So Christians, get ready. Negative body image is a common problem that if you don’t face now, you likely will at some point in your life. With the everyday factors that can influence body image, we must be ready and equipped to label and battle negative thoughts. To do so, turn to Scripture; accept the grace your Savior provides and the help of the Spirit, and rest in the truth of who God made you to be and who you are to him.

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