S6 EP12 | Facing the Seasonal Body Image Struggles with God’s Truth
This time of year inevitably brings on new challenges in our body image struggles. Sundresses, shorts, bathing suits have so many women feeling down on themselves.
Carla encourages us to not allow our bodies to have authority over us - which ultimately is a form of idolatry. When we allow our bodies to dictate our value, worth, loveability and more - we have given our bodies authority over us.
Listen in to these God truth reminders - and the 4 step challenge Carla gives to help break the bondage to body image.
Reframing Perspective:
Carla emphasizes that our bodies should not dictate our value, worth, or lovability.
She encourages listeners to recognize that their bodies were created by God and are meant to serve a purpose in His plan.
Idolatry of Body Image:
Carla discusses how elevating our bodies to an authority in our lives can lead to idolatry.
She stresses that satisfaction cannot be found in chasing a particular body image.
Prioritizing Stewardship:
Carla differentiates between stewarding the body for God's purposes and idolizing it.
She encourages listeners to be good stewards of their bodies through healthy lifestyle choices.
Challenging the Cultural Norm:
Carla challenges cultural ideals that promote body image as the ultimate measure of worth.
Four Practical Tips:
Carla provides four practical tips to minimize the impact of seasonal body image struggles:
Mute or unfollow social media accounts that trigger negative body image.
Buy clothes that fit your current body.
Take a no-scale, no-mirror challenge for the summer.
Prioritize making memories over appearance.
Affirming Truth - I will respect and honor myself as God's creation.
Key scriptures:
Colossians 1:16: "For by him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible..."
Genesis 1:31: "God saw all that he had made and he said it was very good..."
Ephesians 2:10: "We are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."
Connect With Carla:
Inquire about 1:1 coaching ---> carlaagreswellness@gmail.com
Join In His Image Wellness Collective ---> carlaargeswellness@gmail.com
Come hangout on IG with me @carlaarges
Check out the blog
TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] CARLA: Hey friends, welcome to Affirming Truths. I'm your friend and host, Carla Arges. This show is a safe place to share our struggles, grow in faith, and root our identity in Christ. My hope is that you will leave each episode feeling encouraged in your journey. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode and it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review.
[00:00:30] CARLA: I am so glad you're here. Let's get started.
[00:00:37] CARLA: Hello friends. We are at the end of June. Can you believe it? Um, I am your host, Carla Arges. This is Affirming Truth, and today we are going to have. An uncomfortable conversation. Yes, we are. Um, I was noticing the other day we we've had a cool start to our summer [00:01:00] here where I live in Ontario, Canada, and I was starting to pull out my warmer weather outfits because I am as of the time I'm recording this about to head to San Antonio, Texas, and it is much, much warmer there.
[00:01:18] CARLA: And of course, with pulling out the summer clothes, the summer clothes that reveal more skin, pulling out the bathing suits, we are faced once again with our bodies in a way that we don't deal with them in the same way in the fall and winter months when we're covered. And it is very common. And I see this from a lot of women.
[00:01:43] CARLA: And I talked to a lot of women about this, that summertime really creates an increase in their struggle with body image and increase with their struggle with self loathing. Why? Because of how their body looks. [00:02:00] And we're going to talk about today. We're going to talk about facing this seasonal body image struggle, but with God's.
[00:02:07] CARLA: Truth. I'm also going to give you four quick tips to lessen the impact on your mind for struggling with your body image. And I'll give those to you at the end. They're quick and they are not super religious, but they are practical and they are helpful. Okay. Let's remember one thing, guys. You are a creation of the almighty God, full stop.
[00:02:46] CARLA: In Genesis, God saw all that he had made and he said it was very good, full stop. Friend, you are made in the image of [00:03:00] God. Your body is not something to hate. Your body is not something to loathe. Your body is not something to derive value from. Your body does not determine your livability. You, me, women, have given our bodies way more authority over us than they ever should.
[00:03:26] CARLA: Because who has our authority over us? Who is our king and lord? It's Christ. So why are we being subject to our bodies? Why have we elevated our bodies as Lord over our lives? Ladies, that is idolatry. When we have elevated our bodies to be an authority in our life that dictate our moods, that dictate how we value ourselves, that dictate whether we show up in the picture and make [00:04:00] memories, we have created an idol.
[00:04:04] CARLA: And there is never satisfaction found in idolatry. So you will never find satisfaction in trying to chase a body image. I just want to call that out right away. You will never find satisfaction chasing a body image. Now, is it true? That there are many people that have an unhealthy lifestyle that have weight that is contributing to lifestyle diseases.
[00:04:36] CARLA: Absolutely. Are we to be a good steward of our temple? Absolutely, but not. Because it's Lord over our life, but because God has given it to us to steward well, do you see the difference? Do you see the difference between stewarding a resource God has given us to live out our kingdom [00:05:00] objectives versus glorifying the body to be an authority over our life that dictates how we show up?
[00:05:11] CARLA: There's a difference. And so many of us, especially this time of year where the clothes get smaller and the opportunities to be at the beach grow, we struggle with the body image. We struggle in the prison and the bondage that the idolatry of the body is. I want to remind you of something in Colossians 1 16, for by him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.
[00:05:52] CARLA: Your body wasn't created for you to idolize. Your body was created. [00:06:00] To give you a resource to go about kingdom business for God's glory. And so we need to steward it well. Guys, you cannot allow your body image to take you out of making memories. and creating a life. You know, I have talked to women who have felt a call to ministry and to speaking and who have been disobedient in that call because they don't feel comfortable enough in their bodies.
[00:06:39] CARLA: And I get feeling uncomfortable in our bodies. That is a real thing that we struggle with. Absolutely. Guys. When I started my bipolar meds, I put on 25 pounds and I'm still carrying it. I get being uncomfortable in your body, but the problem is not with the body. The problem is what we perceive [00:07:00] our body to have meaning over us.
[00:07:02] CARLA: Our problem is what we have have given our body power over. Our thoughts, our moods, and our emotions. Yes, you need to steward your body. If you are emotionally eating and using food as a crutch, regardless of your weight or how you look, we need to take that to God and steward our emotions better and learn to lean on Christ and to sit with hard things.
[00:07:32] CARLA: And this is how I, what I teach my clients to sit with hard things. That is something you need to learn. If you are not moving your body regularly. Then you are not stewarding your body well, because the body was designed to move. Your body functions optimally when you move regularly. Mental health, spiritual health, emotional health, physical health, all profit from movement.
[00:07:59] CARLA: If you are [00:08:00] treating your body like a garbage can with what you put in your mouth, then no, you're not stewarding it well. And you need to ask God to show you a better way of stewardship. That is not the same thing as refusing to take off your swim cover up and go in the lake with your son. Because you're ashamed of how you look.
[00:08:27] CARLA: Guys, you have been wonderfully and fearfully made. And can I tell you something? God does not look at the things that people look at. He is not concerned with outside appearances. He's concerned with your heart. Are you paying as much attention to your heart? And how your heart is? And how your spiritual life is?
[00:08:48] CARLA: Or are you just paying attention to your body? These are big questions. This is a challenging conversation, and it's one that I have to [00:09:00] challenge myself on. Because for years, I lived trapped to body image. I had disordered eating, I had disordered exercise. I placed so much value and worth on my appearance, not just my body.
[00:09:14] CARLA: But as I shared before, two years ago, God called me to stop dyeing my hair. Because of how I was perceiving it and how I was idolizing things, the only master in our lives should be Christ. Whether we make a decision to go left or right should not be based on what our body looks like, but should be based on where God is calling us.
[00:09:49] CARLA: What example do we want to leave for our kids? What are we modeling? How are we telling our children with their words where their value comes with, but [00:10:00] then are confusing them with their actions because of how we behave, um, considering where our worth comes with, comes from, right? We're here to steward our children as well.
[00:10:14] CARLA: How are we stewarding that relationship? And that sense of Christ centered identity when we ourselves are being ruled by our bodies.
[00:10:30] CARLA: Guys, if you are struggling with your body image and there's a legitimate concern for your health, or there is an emotional, um, unhealthy relationship with food that you need to redirect, then absolutely that is work worth doing. Some of that work I can help you do. And you can book a discovery call anytime.
[00:10:57] CARLA: Some of that work, I'm going to be doing [00:11:00] inside the Patreon, which you're going to hear about tomorrow. We're going to do a Patreon for people that are blessed by the podcast, and we're going to talk regularly about my four pillars of thriving that include renewing your mind, moving your body, fueling your body, resting your body.
[00:11:18] CARLA: There's places you can go for guidance and help for this, but in the meantime, you still show up in the meantime, you still honor and respect your body because it was made by a loving God. It is a masterpiece. You are wonderfully made. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit. You got to walk in that authority.
[00:11:41] CARLA: You got to walk in the confidence that you are a daughter of a king, that you are loved, that you are seen, that you are, are treasured, that you are blessed, that you are redeemed, that you are forgiven, that you are made with purpose all because of what Christ did and [00:12:00] zero to do with what your body looks like in a bathing suit,
[00:12:06] CARLA: right? The lineup to get into heaven, it's not based on your measurements. It's, it's based on. Are you living for God? Are you living trying to squeeze into a size smaller pant? What are you living for? Who are you serving? Who has the authority over your life? Those are the questions I want to ask you. Okay.
[00:12:33] CARLA: Four things. If you are struggling this season, as we are pulling out the sun dresses, pulling out the shorts, pulling out the bathing suits, you are struggling with the seasonal body image that so many women do. Here are four practical things that you can do. And you may not want to do them because we are so addicted to these things.
[00:12:53] CARLA: But we are going to cut off the addiction. We are going to mute or unfollow social media [00:13:00]accounts that cause us to judge our body harshly. You get it? We are going to mute or unfollow social media accounts that make us feel badly about our bodies. Number two, we are going to buy clothes that fit. This is one of the first things that I did that was so freeing after I gained my 25 pounds in a short period of time.
[00:13:27] CARLA: I felt like, excuse the word, but crap. Every time I tried to squeeze myself into a pair of pants that didn't fit me. I went and I bought clothes that fit me and guys, this doesn't have to be expensive. You can thrift clothes that fit you, but you know how good I feel putting on a pair of pants, putting on a pair of shorts, putting on a dress that fits my body.
[00:13:53] CARLA: I feel like a million bucks. Buy clothes that fit, donate the clothes [00:14:00] that don't. Don't hold on to them thinking one day when I fit into them, get rid of them. And if one day you need to buy smaller size, don't have a scarcity mindset. God will provide what you need to buy the smaller size. In the meantime, your closet should just be filled with clothes that fit your body.
[00:14:19] CARLA: You hear me? A lot of you are going to struggle with that. Get clothes that fit your body. Who cares the size on them? Guys, from the same store, I have clothes that are a small, a medium, a large, and an extra large from the same store. Don't even get me started how there's no consistency across stores. Like you have to become emotionally detached to the size of the item.
[00:14:47] CARLA: How do you feel in it? How do you feel in it? That's what matters. Can you sit down comfortably and still breathe? [00:15:00] That's what matters. Buy clothes that fit your body. Number three. This is the one where I get the most pushback. A no scale, no mirror challenge for the summer. That's right. You're not stepping on the scale all summer and you are not looking at the full length mirror in your house all summer.
[00:15:22] CARLA: You're going to get a blanket and you're going to cover your full length mirror. Yes, you can look at a face mirror to brush your teeth, wash your face, pluck your eyebrows, but you are going to cover up and discover how much freedom you'll find in not body checking all the time. Right? So many women push back on this, but I'm challenging you.
[00:15:46] CARLA: I am challenging you to a no scale, no full length mirror summer. Are you brave enough to take that challenge and actually discover the freedom that comes on the other [00:16:00] side of that? And number four, this is a mindset. Get more concerned with being a part of the memories than with what your body looks like.
[00:16:13] CARLA: So many moms regret not getting in the pictures. So many women regret not being part of the memories. Because they let their body image hold them back. Decide today. That you are going to prioritize showing up and making memories over what your body looks like. Alright? Mute or unfollow social media accounts that make you compare or feel bad about your body.
[00:16:46] CARLA: Buy clothes that fit. Donate the ones that don't. Do a no scale, no mirror challenge for the summer. And get more concerned and committed about making memories [00:17:00] than how you think you look in them. My affirming truth for you today is I will respect and honor myself as God's creation. You got to respect your body, but you can't let it be lured over you.
[00:17:14] CARLA: In Ephesians 2 10, it says, we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Guess what? He created you as a masterpiece to do the things for the kingdom, not to fit in a size two, not to make sure you have abs that pop. He created you.
[00:17:43] CARLA: Not for an outside aesthetic, but for kingdom impact work. You are a daughter of a king. You are a warrior. Warriors do not need to be concerned about the appearance of their outside body. [00:18:00] They are too busy training for the battle. Training their mind, training their heart. That's the business I want you to get about.
[00:18:08] CARLA: That's what I want you to prioritize, okay? And if you struggle in this area, book a call. You don't have to continue to struggle. Continuing to struggle is a choice. So what are you going to choose? Choose wisely, friend. I'll talk to you later.
[00:18:34] CARLA: Thanks for joining me today. I hope we're already friends on social media, but if we're not, come find me on Instagram at Carla Arges or at Affirming Truths. Can't wait to see you back here next week. Bye friends!