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

What do you do when you see someone with a "better" body? Do you plot ways you could be more like them? Do you Google your next diet or exercise regimen? Or is that just me?

When I saw a woman who looked "better" than me, I'd start planning! How could I get her figure? I'd study what she ate and the workouts she did. Secretly, I'd vow to follow her programs, hoping to transform into someone who looked more like her.

My focus was on the wrong kind of transformation. I believed that the most effective type of change started on the outside. Changing my body could change my thoughts. Then, getting the size, the hair, the skin, and the shape I wanted—would lead to freedom.

The only trouble is transformations that start on the outside rarely impact the mess inside. Like trying to paint over a rotten apple to cover its bruises, bite into the fruit, and you'll soon know the truth.

Everywhere from Instagram to irritating Internet ads, we hear the shout, "Eat this, avoid that, exercise like this. Soon you'll be living the dream!"

There's nothing wrong with wanting to be healthy, of course. But, body makeover plans can subtly offer us a false type of salvation. They promise to take us from the "hell" of body discontent to the "promised land" of body confidence.

When this happens, beauty and body image become idols that distract us from our true Savior. (We'll talk about this more tomorrow.) Our greatest hope isn't to someday look like a supermodel. It's that someday we'll look like Jesus. Our only hope is in heaven. (Ephesians 1:18)

I share the full story in my book, Compared to Who?, but I remember feeling blah, even after I slipped into that "perfect" size dress. Now, I've worked with hundreds of women who tell me the same. They're disappointed. Changing their bodies didn't change their lives the way they expected.

Hebrews tells us that God's word is more powerful for transformation than any expensive diet. Even when our flesh fails us (Psalm 73), God can strengthen and transform us. But we must examine our hearts, checking to see if our beliefs about beauty and our appearance have subtly turned into the hope that beauty can save us.

Let's look at the Bible's prescription for true transformation.