Your Body Is Not An Object
Improve your body image with this life-changing perspective shift. Discover a new way to see your body that will improve your body image and honor God.
When you think of your body, what do you think of?
If you’re like me your mind goes immediately to problem areas that you wish looked differently and flaws that you feel like you need to fix. Essentially, the way you think about your own body is objectification.
When you think of the objectification of women I bet you think of men looking at Maxim magazine (or something even worse) and judging or just enjoying women’s bodies as something to be viewed for their pleasure and nothing else.
Body Objectification
Let me get real for a second here…
When you look at your body and you put it through the lens of Diet Culture and the unattainable, unrealistic beauty standards that go along with it, you are objectifying yourself.
You are looking at your body as an object that you need to fix, shape, correct, tone, smooth out, tan and make perky.
When you think that way, your body is an object: a thing that exists apart from you that is something to be worked on and displayed.
But your body is not an object.
And you wouldn’t want a man or society to objectify your body. We cringe and revolt when other people do it and yet we do it to ourselves.
Ladies, your body is not an object to be viewed.
It does not exist for the purpose of looking a certain way.
It does not exist for the purpose of being admired by other people.
It does not exist to fit into a mold – a cookie cutter, ridiculous mold – that someone else came up with.
Body Image & Comparison
If we ever want men and society to stop objectifying women, we have to stop objectifying other women and ourselves.
Every time you walk into a room and scan the other women there and do a quick little workup in your head of who’s cute, what outfit you like, who you’re prettier than, and who’s prettier than you, YOU are objectifying women.
I was the worst at this. The worst!
The comparison game was something that I thought I could wield as a weapon.
I thought if I judged other women and worked to position myself to be “better” than them, then I was winning. It’s disgusting to see those words come out of me, but it’s the truth.
I see two issues underlying the body image comparison game:
- Insecurity in who you are; and
- Objectification of your body and other women’s bodies.
You can’t break free of this until you stop viewing your body as an object.
So if my body is not an object, then what is it?
A new way to see your body that will improve your body image and honor God
The Bible says your body is a temple and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)
It says your body should be offered as a living sacrifice to the Lord.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.
Romans 12:1 (NIV)
Your body is not an object to be viewed but a vessel for your spirit and the Holy Spirit.
Your body is an instrument that allows you, the real you (which is NOT your body), to move through the world.
Your body is your temporary home on this planet. It’s the external portion that allows you to do daily activities and fulfill your purpose.
In order to bring glory to God and enjoy God, your body does not have to look a certain way or be a certain size.
Your body is a vessel. Your body is an instrument.
So stop making it something more than that. Stop being attached to your body as if it were your identity, because it is not.
Your body is not who you are. Your body is just a body.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: your weight is not your worth, your body is not your beauty, your appearance is not who you are. So don’t treat it like it is.
And don’t treat other women’s bodies as if they were objects by judging them, trying to measure yourself up to them, and falling into the comparison trap.
Your life is not about your body. Your purpose is not about your body.
Your body is something that helps you be present in your life and show up for your purpose, but it’s not all about your body.
You need a fundamentally different perception of your body in order to break free from Diet Culture and live the faith-fueled, freedom-filled, abundant life after dieting.
And that starts with remembering what God says about your body.
It is meant to be a temple. It is meant to be offered as a living sacrifice in worship. It is an instrument with which you can honor God.
It has never been and never will be an object, unless you let it be.
More Faith-Based Body Image Resources
For more faith-based body image resources, check out these links:
- Read my iBelieve.com article 5 Tips for Better Biblical Body Image
- Listen to my story of how I was a slave to skinny until Jesus set me free on these podcast guest appearances
- Read other blog posts in the Strength Category which includes the topic of body image like Why do we feel like we never measure up?
- Read this declaration on identity in Christ I am more than a body
- Check out my friend Heather Creekmore! Her books Compared to Who? and Burden of Better are must-reads for Christian women struggling with body image, so that’s why they are on my list of The Best Books About Food & Faith. Her podcast Compared to Who? is also on my list of The Best Health Podcasts for Christian Women.
Your body is not an object to be viewed but a vessel for your spirit and the Holy Spirit.
How can you remind yourself to see your body this way?
How will you practice remembering what God say about your body?
How can you treat your body like a temple for the Holy Spirit today?
How will you offer you body as a living sacrifice to the Lord today?
