In the Mirror: A Gospel Look at Body Image
Editor’s Note: We know that struggles with body image can vary greatly from person to person. If you are battling body dysmorphia, an eating disorder, or a similar issue, please reach out to a professional for help.
I remember my daughter’s delight, at two years old, whenever she caught her reflection in the mirror. She would glance at herself with the biggest smile she could muster. Then, she would twirl around to find her reflection waiting for her again, and dance and giggle and laugh.
All this in front of a mirror. All this because she loved what she saw—a miracle of God’s handiwork.
As I think of the world that my daughter is starting to navigate now, as an early tween, my prayer is that she will continue to delight in what she sees in the mirror. Culture will tell her she should be constantly dissatisfied with how her face and body look, no matter how beautiful or wonderfully made she is. And yet, it is the culture that she experiences at home that will shape her the most.
As moms, we have both the holy opportunity and the weighty burden of helping our kids—and ourselves—learn to love and appreciate these bodies we’ve been given. No matter our appearance or abilities, here are three truths we can press into our hearts as we seek to honor God in how we think and talk about our bodies:
We can take delight in our bodies, made in God’s image.
Here is the truth: we are all beautiful because the Creator of the heavens and the earth knit us together,[1] and he delights in us. He wove our every cell together in the womb and he is remaking us every day, for “in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). Every child is a wonder. Every human is a wonder! Whether our bodies are healthy or not, all of us can still be amazed when we look into the mirror. God has fashioned our bodies with incredible complexity and intricacy. We are miracles, made in the very image of God![2] It is right to praise the beauty and glory that we see in our children and in one another.
Praise is an important tool to utilize as we learn to delight in our bodies. We affirm our kids for how they look—not to focus on shallow things, but because they need to hear how fearfully and wonderfully made they are![3] We can also point out the beauty of others (beauty of all kinds), not to spark jealousy or comparison, but to help us worship the God whose image they bear. Additionally, we can thank him for the tasks our bodies can accomplish and the many ways we explore and delight in his good gifts through them.
We can be content with imperfect bodies.
In Philippians 4:11-13, Paul wrote about being content in any circumstance—not just spiritually, but physically, too. His contentment is not a cerebral one. Rather, it comes from a bodily understanding of “plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” He understands that learning to be content in our very bodies is part of learning overall contentment in our lives as Christians.
If we’re not intentional about being content in this body, today, we’ll fixate on flaws and nurture complaints in our hearts. That’s because our natural tendency is to focus on what we don’t have, and to be unthankful for what we’ve already been given. Essentially, our tendency is to sin.
We won’t occupy perfect bodies in this life, but we can strive for contentment, no matter what we have or don’t have in light of cultural body standards. When we put on clothes, we can thank God for how he’s made us, rather than fixating on what size we wear or on how having kids changed our bodies forever. We can gratefully care for our bodies rather than focusing on blemishes or whether or not we’re feeling “fat” or “skinny” today. We can depend on God’s grace and lean into his strength even when our bodies fail us and show the effects of a broken, decaying world. We can remind ourselves and our kids that “godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out” (1 Timothy 6:6-7). Perfecting our bodies isn’t the main goal of life on earth—growing in grace is.
We can look to Christ, who understands our body struggles.
Christ cares about how we live and move in our bodies. He cares how we feel about our bodies. This is one of the many reasons why he came as a baby over two thousand years ago—as a human. He understands what it’s like to live in a frame that is fragile and easily wounded. He valued human souls and bodies—no matter if they were disabled or diseased—by touching them, spending time with them, and loving them. He also experienced the feeling of not being physically attractive according to cultural standards.[4]
But Christ also knows that our bodies will, one day, be redeemed and made fully whole.[5] It is because of his life, death, and resurrection that we have the hope of heaven, and of one day living in bodies that will be renewed. And so, when we wrestle with the body that we have, or when our children feel defeated by the cultural standards they see all around them, we can point their gaze—and our own—to the unfading beauty of Christ. Through his broken and bleeding body, ours will one day be perfected.
Until then, we can learn to live faithfully in the bodies we have been given, no matter their weaknesses or failings. We can look in the mirror and choose to praise our Creator for the amazing gift of life in a body that we did not create and cannot renew on our own. And we can praise God that his power is made perfect in our weakness—even bodily weakness![6] There is grace for this day to rejoice in the bodies we have—and to model that same rejoicing for our children.
[1] Psalm 139:13
[2] Genesis 1:27
[3] Psalm 139:14
[4] Isaiah 53:2
[5] Philippians 3:21
[6] 2 Corinthians 12:9
