Which brings me to the goal of having a good body image:  is it for our good only?  Is it about ‘us’?

Romans 12:1 is the truth that God wants us to be free in…”to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.”

Our bodies are created to serve God and to bring Him honour.  How can we do that if we don’t even like ourselves and maybe even despise our bodies?  What if we are doing harmful things to our bodies and can’t seem to stop?  It seems impossible to offer our bodies to the Lord as an act of worship when we feel and behave like our bodies are curses or that our bodies are the centre of our attention?

I Corinthians 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 6:16 both say that our bodies are “a temple of the Holy Spirit”.  What does that mean?

*Spirit lives in us       *Bodies are clean      *Pure for worship

As a Christian, a child of God, we are saved.  Jesus has paid the price to purchase us as His own.  That means, He died to save not only our souls, the part that lives forever, but also our bodies so that they can serve Him in practical ways while we are on earth.  And when we die and our earthly tents are no longer needed, God will provide us with a heavenly body, like Jesus had after His resurrection, to serve Him in eternity.  (I Corinthians 15).  So our bodies are a significant part of who we are and Jesus has redeemed ALL of us as a person.

5.  What do I do?

I don’t want to leave you with some lofty thoughts and Bible verses and not know what to do about your body image if it isn’t healthy!

a.       Seek someone you trust and share your struggles

b.      Seek professional help if you are doing self-destructive behaviours

c.       Join a support group to help with issues

d.      See a doctor

e.      Find a church or Bible study to learn more about God’s Word and the Christian life

f.        Go deeper and get Christian counseling to replace the lies you have believed with the truth of God’s Word

g.      Be around positive people and build your closest relationships with those who are healthy, especially other believers in Christ who are growing in their faith

h.      Eat healthy, exercise, take care of your temple, get adequate rest, do fun things!

6.  Presentation of Mirrors – Romans 12:1