Free Of Me: Why Life Is Better When It’s Not All About YouSýnishorn

Reclaiming God's Vision for Our Appearance

You probably feel exposed when your physical imperfections are noticeable to others. We all do it, and humans have been doing it since Adam and Eve hid their bodies in the garden. It’s true of sin and it’s true of muffin tops: we camouflage the things we don’t like about ourselves. 

Now here’s where this gets tricky. Body image is not about us, but our bodies are a part of us. We can’t separate our exteriors from who we are, because God made each of us to be whole people, body and soul. If our physical bodies weren’t important, Jesus wouldn’t have taken on physical form. He took on human flesh so that he could redeem all of us, both our bodies and our souls. 

This means that “what’s inside of you” is NOT all that matters to God. Your outside matters too, because everything about you matters to God. Your entire self was created with a purpose, which means your appearance is not the enemy. Your body, your face, your hair, your eyes, all of it is “good.” At the beginning of time, God declared it to be so. Where we go wrong is overemphasizing that goodness and making our appearance a reflection of our worth.

When we make our appearances about us, our desire to look cute, instead of our desire to love, dictates our actions. The truth is, when we make our bodies about us, it’s bad for us and the women around us. It helps no one.

That’s why we need to reclaim God’s vision for appearance. We have to choose compassion over comparison. Does that mean we should auction off our wardrobes and wear burlap sacks? Definitely not. The “burlap sack look” is not a bridge to love and connection with others. But it does mean our goal is not to be the cutest girl in the room. It means the purpose of our appearance is not to hide our imperfections. It means being honest about our vanity so that we can scale it back a step or two.

When we are willing to expose our weaknesses sometimes and humble ourselves instead of competing, that is a gift to our sisters. In an image-obsessed culture like ours, that’s what love looks like. 

What is one way you can reclaim God’s vision for your appearance today? How can you help another woman do the same?