Compared to Who? a 10-Day Plan to Improve Your Body ImageSýnishorn

Ephesians 4 teaches us that in Christ, our lives are made new! Though I started following Jesus as a child, my body image issues kept me from experiencing the freedom of new life in Christ. I tried to serve Jesus and my beauty idol. I thought maybe the combination of Jesus and a "new and improved" me would be the answer to my insecurity. I expected the number on the scale to give me the joy I desired. I knew Jesus promised rest, and I planned to experience that as soon as I finished my next diet.

But, as Matthew 6:24 reminds us, serving two masters never works.

In my first book, Compared to Who?, I share the full story of how God helped me understand that his freedom plan was comprehensive enough to cover my body image issues. He graciously showed me that Jesus died for all of my sins—including the ones I preferred to call "normal girl problems" like:

• Idolizing beauty.

• Prioritizing diets and workouts over spiritual growth.

• Obsessing over changing my body.

These were all outside of God's will and plan for my life. I had to repent and confess the ways I'd looked for beauty to save me. Only then did I realize the joy he had in mind far surpassed the happiness of fitting into the "ideal" size.

In Galatians, we read that it's for freedom that Christ set us free! Paul reminds us that Jesus died, so we no longer have to wear the yoke of slavery.

If you've ever worn "slimming" undergarments that smash your intestines or foot-crippling high heels (because they make your legs look thinner), then you, my friend, have experienced a taste of the beauty idol's yoke. The new life we have in Christ frees us to refute its lies!

Our worth doesn't come from how we look; we're free to flourish in how God made us. Once we've committed our lives to Jesus, we're already unconditionally and permanently accepted and loved. Isn't that encouraging news?

Every week on the Compared to Who? Podcast, I talk to women who have found this kind of freedom. We discuss breaking free from on-again, off-again dieting and how to find rest and peace in the body you have right now.

God set me free from body image issues. I believe God wants to set you free, too.

Ready to stop comparing and start living in this freedom? Visit https://www.comparedtowho.me and discover more resources like this one to help you break free from body image and comparison struggles.