4 Ways To Turn To God When You’re Feeling Insecure About Your Body
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We do not need to deal with our body image insecurities alone. We have God to turn toward, at any moment of any day.
But how do we do that? How exactly do we use our faith to help us through our body image insecurities?
Today, I want to dive into 4 very practical things you can do when feeling insecure about your body.
First things first, if you are starting a journey of trying to make peace with your reflection, I want to encourage you to put this scripture on your mirror, and truly look at it every time you see yourself.
The writer of Psalm 45 directs our attention to the mirror of TRUTH.
“Listen, Daughter and pay careful attention: Forget your people and your father's house. Let the King be ENTHRALLED by your beauty; honor him, for He is your Lord.” That's verses 10 and 11.
When the psalmist speaks directly to the bride and says; “listen daughter, and pay careful attention” he’s saying “Stop listening to the lies and LISTEN to the truth! AKA Stop looking at the distorted mirror of the culture and look into the eyes of your KING!!”
The King of Kings is ENTHRALLED by your beauty too. He is so enthralled with you that He gave up His throne in Heaven to come into our broken world and win you over to Himself.
Remember this, as we constantly look in the mirror of truth, we’ll see our sacred reflections better clearly, and we’ll reflect the beauty of Christ to others more consistently.
If you loved this episode and want more Faith-based REAL talk, tune in to Episode 197: Real Talk On Building Confidence in 2022 and Episode 205: 5 things To Do On Bad Body Image Days.
Plus, I would LOVE to know what scripture speaks to YOU most when it comes to dealing with body image issues! Dispatch it up in your Instagram stories and give me, @julieAledbetter and the podcast, @embraceyourreal a tag and I would love to share it with the rest of the Embrace Your Real community.
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, hey, beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned, if you're ready to embrace your real, let's get in, let's go.
We do not need to deal with our body image and securities alone. We have God to turn towards at any moment of any day. But how do we do that? How exactly do we use our faith to help us through our body image and securities? I know for me, for a decade of my life, I struggled with this. I struggled with body image insecurities. I tried to do it alone. I tried to do it, master up the strength. I tried to do all of these things. These practices that people would tell me that I need to do, these positive affirmations. And I'm telling you guys, we cannot do this journey successfully long term alone, you just can't.
We are not enough, but that is okay because God is enough. And that's the most beautiful part about our faith is that all of the insecurities and all of the ways that we are not enough, God completes, he is enough. He's perfect. And he's holy and he's ready to come beside you in this journey. And so in today's bonus episode, I want to dive into four very practical things that you can do when you're feeling insecure about your body. So if you have a pen to paper, there's going to be quite a bit of scripture in this podcast, like specific verses that I want you to read and read in your own time.
I know for me when I hear a verse, I always love reading the commentary in my NIV Bible, just because it gives me a lot more context to the verse and just helps me think deeper on a deeper level for the scripture. So if you have pen to paper or if you're by your phone, be sure to write down these verses, the ones that maybe catch your ear or just all of them. And then in your own quiet time, go through them and just ask the holy spirit to guide you and to speak to you.
But before I dive into the bonus episode, you know that I had to share, this review comes from Brandy MC, she says, "Exactly what I need. This is exactly what I needed daily. The world has so much garbage in garbage out. Finally a place to be lifted up, encouraged and challenged." Thank you Brandy so much for your words. I appreciate every single one of you guys' words, taking time out of your day to even send in a review really does mean the world to me.
If you could scooch over to Apple Podcast and type in Embrace Your Real, first make sure you're subscribed. That is the plus sign in the top right corner. So that way you never miss an episode and they're automatically downloaded to your phone, whether you have phone service or not, you can listen to them. And then also if you want to leave a review, it would really bless us. All you got to do is scroll down on the embrace real page and you'll see the rating and review there. It really does help us out reach the message of embracing your real and living more authentically and just feeling empowered and encouraged. And that's our goal is to empower and encourage women all over the world. Thank you in advance for doing that. I appreciate you so much. Let's dive into the bonus episode.
First things first, if you are starting on a journey of trying to make peace with your reflection, I want to encourage you to put this scripture on your mirror and I want you to look at it every single time you see yourself. The writer of Psalm 45 in versus 10 and 11 directs our attention to the mirror of truth. Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention. Forget your people and your father's house. Let the king be enthralled by your beauty, honor him for he is your Lord.
When the psalmist is speaking directly to the bride and says, listen, daughter, and pay careful attention. He's saying stop listening to the lies and listen to the truth, AK stop looking at this distorted mirror of culture and look into the eyes of your king. The king of kings is enthralled by your beauty. He is so enthralled that he gave up his throne in heaven to come into our broken world and win you over to himself.
I want you to remember this. When we constantly look in the mirror of truth, we will see our sacred reflections more clearly, and we will reflect the beauty of Christ to others more consistently. I loved this excerpt from Beauty Begins, and I've talked about this book on the podcast before, it's by Megan and Chris Shook. I will link it in the show notes, but it's also on my Amazon storefront under books, such a good reminder of just into the mirror of truth and just talks about the difference of beauty and pretty and how we need to be chasing after eternal beauty. And that's what God calls us to.
And so as we kind of dive into these four ways to turn to God when we're feeling insecure about our body, I just want you to remember that. I want you to remember number one, that you're not alone. And number two, that you can go to God. I think oftentimes we think we need to muster up all this strength to do it in our own strength and to do it alone. And I'm telling you, when you try to do that, when you try to do it alone, when you try to muster up all this strength, it will never be enough.
That's the whole point. We are not enough. We will never be enough, but God is enough. And his strength is enough and his peace is enough and his wisdom is enough. And so I just want to remind you that you don't have to do this journey on your own. And so I hope that these four reminders give you hope and give you peace and give you some direction as you head onto this journey.
Number one, give God your body image insecurities. That's right, you don't need to hold onto them. You can give them to God and let them go. I love this verse from Paul in Philippians four, six, and seven, it says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in all things, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God that transcends understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
In fact, the commentary in my NIV Bible on this specific verse says, "God's peace is different from the world's peace. True peace is not found in positive thinking, in absence of conflict or even in good feelings. It comes from knowing that God is in control. Our citizenship in Christ's kingdom is sure, our destiny is set and we can have victory over sin. So let God's peace guard your heart against anxiety." So what are you feeling self-conscious about? Whatever it is, don't hold onto it. Free yourself from these insecurities by giving thanks to God for your body and telling him how you are feeling and what you need. Don't be scared to do that. God can take it.
In fact, he already knows what you are going to say before you say it, but he wants his children to come to him. So get it out of your head, write it out on paper, talk it out, whatever you need to do, but cast your insecurities on the Lord. Not only will he transform your eyes, your heart and mind to see the beauty in all things, he often will remind you to meditate and dwell on what he says about you, AKA God's word, not what our own fickle selves say about ourselves. Because that's weak, it's ever changing, and it's not something that we should live our lives by. What we should live our lives by is God's word and God's truth and God's wisdom and what he says about us.
Number two, focus more on God and less on your looks and less on yourself. Psalm 10:4 is a great reminder of this, "In his pride the wicked man does not seek him. In all his thoughts, there is no room for God." When all we do is think about our looks and we think about ourselves and we're so self-absorbed, we risk becoming overcome by the sin of pride. And the Bible makes very clear that pride goes before the fall, pride tops the list of sins that God hates. Both Proverb 16, 18 talks about that in Proverbs 6:16 through 17.
The pride that the Bible condemns does not refer to feelings of accomplishment over a job well done. Think about this, when we get to heaven and we see God face to face, he says, "Good job. Well done good and faithful servant." So it's not that we can't be proud of our accomplishments. But when we are so obsessed with ourselves, that our mind never turns to God and never turns to seek God, that's when pride is becoming an idol in our life. There will always be a tension between your flesh and your spirit. For most decisions in your life, your flesh will tell you one thing, but your spirit will tell you to do the opposite. Anybody relate?
It's easy to give in to the flesh, but only the spirit will reward you in the end. Trust me when I say that you will never be satisfied if you keep running after these earthly things, if you keep so self-absorbed and you're so self-focused, you can truly have everything that you need, but if you can't be thankful or see God and notice him in everything, you will never be content, you will never feel truly beautiful until you find your sacred reflection in Christ's eyes.
I was reading Ecclesiastes a few months ago, and this verse just jumped out at me. Solomon, the king of Jerusalem wrote in Ecclesiastes two. He's basically talking about all the things that he accomplished on earth and how he gave into his fleshly desires. And in the middle of the chapter he says, "I denied myself nothing my eyes desired. I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind, nothing gained under the sun."
So in this scripture, basically Solomon is concluding that everything is meaningless unless we focus on things that are eternal. Remember though that beauty is eternal, but pretty is temporary. All the hours that we spend on ourselves in the mirror to look pretty truly have no value for eternity. It's just wasted time. But the time that we spend reflecting the beauty and the love of Christ to others, now that's ultimately going to make a lasting difference for eternity.
The question still remains, are you going to spend most of your time on things that won't last, like being popular or partying or trying to constantly change and please people or change your body, or are you going to spend most of your time on things that last forever?
The only things that matter are eternal and that's loving God and loving others. Jesus made this very, very crystal clear in Matthew, 22:37 through 39. Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. So our commandments are to love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor, that is our purpose. That is our calling on this earth. It's very, very simple.
When we look into the mirror of Christ to see our sacred reflections, and then we are to reflect Christ love to others, those are the two things that we need to base our lives on. That's ultimately why we are alive. Stop getting caught up focusing so much on ourselves, when we focus so much on ourselves and we're so self-absorbed, it doesn't leave any room for us to do the work of God, which is reflecting Christ to others.
I talked about this in another episode, but in one of the books I was reading, I can't remember which one it is. I think it might have been Beauty Begins, or it might have been Fighting Forward. But either way it said the acronym for joy, to have true lasting joy in this life is Jesus first, other second, and yourself third. And it's really important of course to take care of yourself and honor yourself, there are so many scriptures that talk about taking care of this temple that God has allowed us to live in this earthly shell. But our ultimate purpose on this earth you guys is so much more than our looks, is so much more than ourselves.
We need to look outward. We need to look to our communities. We need to see the people and the opportunities that God has brought into our life. And trust me when I say that the more that we focus on those things, the less our insecurities actually become. And I know that sounds weird, but it's crazy how it works. When we truly shift our focus and we stop focusing and dwelling on all of the little tiny things, our insecurities, the things we don't have, et cetera, et cetera, it opens up our eyes to be able to see all of the beautiful things that we do have and all the opportunities that God has entrusted us too.
And recently I've just been asking God, one of my prayers has just been, establish the work of my hands, oh God, establish the work of my hands. And just kind of offering that prayer to God and saying like, whatever opportunities I have come up this week or today or this hour, whether it's a person or it's a thing or something, I just pray that in all I will glorify God.
And the more that my prayers become about what can I do to serve God and how can I reflect the beauty of Christ and the love of Christ to others, the less and less I become. And that's ultimately what I think we're on this earth for. We're on this earth to become less so that we can become more in Christ and that Christ may be magnified through us. Again, I hope that this just encourages you and reminds you to focus more on God and less on your looks and less on your insecurities.
Number three, watch the company you keep. It's so important that you prioritize good community. First Corinthians 15:33 says, "Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals." If you're surrounded with people who prioritize God's morals, then you'll feel way less triggered to prioritize earthly mortal morals like looking skinny, being perfect, yada, yada, yada, these morals won't even exist or even be a topic of conversation if you surround yourself with the right people. You want to surround yourself with people whose moral center, first and foremost, around good Christian character, but also leaning into growth and ultimately aiming to become more and more like Christ each day, not focused on appearance or aesthetics.
If you surround yourself with godly people, you'll be less tempted to fall into the negative and toxic thought patterns that we so often and so easily can fall into. But I get it. Not all of us have a good community. That was me for years. I felt like I didn't have a good godly community that I could really lean into. If that's you, I just want to encourage you to surround yourself with quality encouragement, whether that's through books or podcasts or videos or sermons.
As I mentioned, the scripture earlier, Philippians four, Paul was talking about, do not be anxious about anything, but through prayer and supplication, present your request to the Lord and the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. So that's verse six and seven. If you continue reading in verse eight, it says, "Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right. Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely. Whatever is admirable. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things."
What we put into our minds determines what comes out through our words and actions. Let me say that again. What we put into our minds determines what comes out through our words and actions. Paul tells us to program our minds with thoughts that are true, that are noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. If you are struggling in this area, I just want to encourage you to examine what you are putting into your mind, whether that's through TV, internet, social media, conversations, people, you have to replace those harmful inputs with wholesome material and above all else prioritize reading God's word and praying. Ask God to help you to focus your mind on what is good and what is pure. Of course it's going to take time, it's going to take practice, but it can be done.
Recently I have been doing what I've been calling prayer walks, and I absolutely love them in the morning. So after my quiet time, I get on the treadmill and I just get some steps in. And I either put on a podcast, I read a book, like read a book I say read a book but I mean listen to a book or I listen to a sermon. And recently I have been listening to Sadie Robertson podcast. It's called WHOA That's Good. And she has had some awesome guests that have just been chatting about all things, whether it's happiness, friendship, community relationships, and everything comes obviously from a faith-based background and just such good quality conversations that really just nurture your soul. They're pure, they're admirable, they're lovely, they're true, they're noble.
And I have just found myself referring to her podcast throughout my day so much in my conversations and in the things that I think. And it's just been incredible. And it just reminds me that the things that you choose to listen to, they really do matter, they matter a lot. And so I just want you to take inventory of the things that you are listening to, take inventory of the things that you are watching. I have recently been trying to, I feel like I'm constantly on this journey of limiting my screen time and how can I limit my screen time even more and not consume, but create.
I'm a business owner, I'm an entrepreneur. And so how can I create instead of consume. And I just feel like that has really benefited my heart. I haven't been consuming as much. And I can tell that my brain is not in this constant overload of so much information and so many feelings all at once as you're scrolling through the For You page or the Explore page on Instagram. And so take inventory of what you're watching, take inventory of what you're listening to. If you can, try to replace things with things that are going to nurture your soul, especially if you are in a fragile place. In your insecurities, you don't want to allow all of this worldliness to come into your heart and into your mind day after day. Because if you do it, you're just going to feel even more lost. You're going to feel even more confused.
And so shut the phone off, even sit in silence, if that's what you need. Sit in silence and maybe just start praying out loud. If you've never done that, I know it sounds kind of scary, but just start talking, talk to God like he's a friend, just share your emotions, share your feelings. And in those times that I do that, I can tell you God's peace surpasses all understanding. And he truly does guard my mind and my heart. And it's a beautiful feeling. I encourage you to watch the company that you keep.
And number four, never forget that God created you the way you are for a reason. We are God's masterpiece. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us a new in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he has planned for us long ago." That says we are God's masterpiece, which literally means work of art, our salvation is something only God can do. It is his powerful and creative work in us.
If God considers us his work of art, we dare not treat ourselves or others with disrespect. God created you the way that you are for a reason, you are the way that you are because God has an exact plan for you. He didn't create you on a whim. He carefully created you in your mother's womb. He created you to be exactly what you are. He has a plan. And to question God's plan is to question God. When you start to feel insecure about your body or start to feel insecure about your life, I need you to trust God. Please trust that you are built this way for a reason, trust and continue to have faith and ask God, pray to God, ask God to give you more clarity, give you more insight, give you more wisdom.
There are so many times that I've just gone to God and have been like, "God, why am I like this? Or why is life happening like this? Or why am I feeling this way?" And I'm telling you, when you surrender to God, and when you go to him with an honest heart, looking to seek wisdom and asking God to download his wisdom and discernment in your heart and in your mind, he never comes up empty. He never comes back void. He will always, whether it's through God's word, which oftentimes that happens to me. I always pull out my Bible and I just say, "God, speak to me. I just pray right now that you give me the wisdom, that you give me the discernment, that you lead me to a scripture that I need to read. You know my heart, you know how I'm feeling." And you guys, it works.
The Holy Spirit guides me to these scriptures, these verses. And I'm like, "Oh my gosh, only God can share that." And it gives me goosebumps. And oftentimes it brings me to tears. And so I just want to remind you guys that you are God's masterpiece. You are a work of art. And so we do not treat ourselves with disrespect. We trust that God created us for a reason. We trust that every intricate part about us was not overlooked.
And I just ask that you continue to go to God and ask him for wisdom and discernment and just ask his holy spirit to guide you, he always will. There you have it, those are the four ways to turn to God when you're feeling insecure about your body. I want to recap those in case you are a note person, or you want to just remember these key points. Number one, give God your body image insecurities. Number two, focus more on God and less on your looks. Number three, watch the company that you keep. And number four, never forget that God created you the way that you are for a reason. We are God's masterpiece.
If you love this episode and want more faith-based real talk, tune into episode 197, real talk on building confidence in 2022, and episode 205, five things to do on bad body image days. Both of those will be linked in the show notes below, so that you can easily go listen. If you have a girlfriend, a friend, or someone in your life that you feel like would really benefit from this episode, I just ask that you shared out with them. You can copy the link and send it to them in a text message. You can also screenshot this and post it up on your story.
I would love to know what kind of jumped out at you or what scripture you love or speaks to you when it comes to dealing with body image. So you can post that up on your Instagram and tag me, Julie Ledbetter and embrace your real account. We love connecting with you guys. I love you so much. And I hope that this podcast encouraged you, empowered you, reminded you that you are so beautiful and that we are not alone in our insecurities, we are not alone in our struggles and that we have a God that is bigger than all of that. And even though we are not enough, God is enough and that we need to rest assured in that.
Thanks again for tuning in. I love you so much and I'll talk to you in the next episode. All right, sister, that's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so, Julie A. Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle, for that daily post workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check.
The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcast to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world. And I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it.