Beauty Beyond the Mirror- Seeing Yourself Through God's Eyes

What if you could see yourself the way God sees you? What do you think He would say about you? Your body? Your legs and booty and arms and tummy. What do you think He sees when He sees you? 2 Corinthians 5:17 in the NIV says Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! Did you know that when you repent and believe in the resurrection of Christ and ask Him into your heart that the Holy Spirit comes to live in you and at that moment God only sees Christ in you. How does that make you feel?

Here are 3 ways we can shift our perspective today: 

1- Write or repeat daily affirmations out loud- I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14- I am a child of the Most High God. Remember our verse from earlier? 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! What are some biblical affirmations you can recite every morning? 

2- Spend less time looking in the mirror, remove them if you need to and stay off social or unfollow accounts that make you second guess who you are. Comparison is the thief of joy and joy is a fruit of the Spirit found only in those with a personal relationship with Christ. You are His. Your body is His. He dwells in the hearts and bodies of all believers. If Jesus was sitting on your couch would you call Him fat or ugly or stupid? Of course not. So when you speak or think that of yourself, you're essentially saying it about Him because when God sees you, He sees Christ. 

3- Psalm 139:23-24- "Search me God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is anything offensive in me and lead me in the way everlasting. This is a prayer for self-acceptance. Ask God to help you see yourself as He does and ask Him to help you love yourself as you should. He will provide. Start a gratitude journal for your body and thank her for all she does for you and has done. Proverbs 3:15-She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. She is you. Tuck that verse in your heart and let it be the anthem of your thoughts. 

If you'd like help in your own personal journey, join the Biblical Weight Loss Framework at the link below and let's move through yo

Are you sick of trying diet after diet and NOT losing weight?

Hey there friend, I'm Lindy Schlabach, Christian Fitness & Nutrition Coach. I gained 100 pounds in my late twenties and struggled for years to get it off. Seven years ago, I found a basic system that worked and has helped me lose 90 of those pounds. I’ve been working with women in online fitness and nutrition ever since to break chains of diet culture, embrace their bodies and fueling instead of dieting.

In this podcast, I'll teach you how to:

• • Lose Weight in a Way that honors God without obsessing about the scale
  • Meal Plan and Prep for Your Family
  • Follow a MACRO based plan that allows you to eat the foods you love.
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  • I’ll help you Plan your week and schedule your self-care time.
  • Cultivate a spirit of self-discipline in your workouts you actually enjoy.
  
  It's time to give God your health journey and watch Him make you new, from the inside, OUT.

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Transcript

I have struggled with body dysmorphia for honestly, as long as I can remember.

Sometimes I still see 250 pound me in the mirror.

And at times I find myself body shaming if the scale says I've had a bad week.

But why?

What if we could start to see ourselves the way that God sees us?

What do you think he would say about you, about your body, about your legs and your booty and your arms and that tummy that you just constantly are criticizing?

What do you think he sees when he sees you?

2 Corinthians 517 in the NIV says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone, and the new is here.

Did you know that when you repent and believe in the resurrection of Christ and ask him into your heart, that the Holy Spirit comes to live in you, and at that moment, God only sees Christ in you?

How amazing is that?

How does that make you feel?

I know it makes me feel convicted to stop viewing myself as the world does.

It makes me want to die to my vanity and see Christ in the image that he has of me.

Don't you?

I know you do.

So today, I'm going to share three steps that you can take to shift your perspective.

Stay tuned.

Are you sick of trying diet after diet and not losing weight?

Are you tired of doubting your ability to actually lose weight in a healthy way?

Do you wish you could find a laid out for you plan that will help you stay accountable to your goals?

Hey friends, I'm Lindy Schlabach, Christian Fitness & Nutrition Coach.

I gained 100 pounds in my late 20s and struggled for years to get it off.

So grab your pre-workout and let's chat.

Are you ready to join the Biblical Weight Loss Framework and take a Holy Spirit led approach to weight loss God's way?

If you are desired of diet culture and counting every calorie and feeling shame over every choice, join us and let's create a specific to you Biblical Weight Loss Plan.

You can find the link to join us in the show notes or visit herweightlossmindset.com/framework.

That's herweightlossmindset.com/framework.

So I read something recently about vanity coming with the invention of the mirror, and I had never thought about it that way.

Was it a time that people started to focus more on their looks?

The cinching of the waist in the old days, do you remember?

And the selfies that we see people take today, like vanity at its finest and we wonder why our kids have body image issues, why we have body image issues.

What do you think the people in Bible times did to see themselves?

It's been studied that they used pools of water or polished stones 8,000 years ago, and even more traditional mirrors were crafted from copper and bronze that we saw in 3000-4000 BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Glass mirrors as we have them today, they didn't evolve until later.

So what if we took the mirrors out of our homes and started to look at our heart posture and use God's eyes instead of our own to see ourselves in the way that he wants us to see ourselves?

So my dad made me this beautiful handcrafted mirror when I was a kid.

And it's in Peanut's nursery.

And it's like it's hanging on the wall.

So like if I walk into the bathroom or walk into her nursery, I see myself and I look at myself in that stupid thing every time I walk in her room.

Like I can't help it.

So I'll find myself like, oh, my belly looks jiggly.

Or oh, my thighs look crepey because maybe I ate too much sugar the day before.

Like the things I think about myself as I walk in there are stupid.

Like why does it instantly go to shame or condemnation?

So lately, as silly as it might sound, I'll either close my eyes so I don't have to look in the mirror, or I'll say thank you Lord for this body.

What do we actually know about beauty?

Like what do we actually think about when we think about beauty?

Like are you thinking about someone's face or their hair?

Or are you thinking about heart posture?

So in 1 Samuel chapter 16 verse 7, the Lord said to Samuel, do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.

The Lord does not look at the things people look at.

People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

So God is telling Samuel, don't look at his appearance, don't look at his height.

Like I'm not interested in what he looks like.

I'm interested on what is in his heart.

I like God's method far better than I like my own, don't you?

Like who measures beauty anyway?

Like we find ourselves scrolling on social media and we're like judging someone's dinner that they made that they think looks like really delicious and we think, ooh, that looks like something I put in my dog's bowl.

Or, oh, this person thinks that their hair looks really cute and then we instantly are judging because we're like, who would have that haircut?

It's not 1985.

So, not only are we worrying about what we look like, we're judging people which we know scripture is completely against.

Who is measuring beauty?

You know, it used to be Marilyn Monroe with her, you know, childbearing hips and her booty.

But today, sometimes it's like stick figures of models that might often probably have eating disorders.

And they have all the time in the world to not eat and exercise.

But that's not real life.

And it should not be the measuring stick of what we hold ourselves against.

We are to see ourselves through bad size.

And when we can do that, we can love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

So here are three ways we can shift our perspectives today.

So I want you to write down or repeat your daily affirmations out loud.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Your works are wonderful.

I know that full well.

We read that in Psalm 139.14.

I am a child of the Most High God.

Remember our verse from earlier?

I am the head and not the tail.

Second Corinthians 5.17 is a great affirmation.

It says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone, and the new is here.

We talked about that verse earlier.

So what are some verses that you can tuck in your heart that are going to be affirmations that you can repeat out loud daily?

Spend time less looking in the mirror.

Take them out of your house if you need to.

And stay off of social media, or unfollow accounts or people that make you a second guess who you are, or put you in a heart posture of judgment towards them.

We've heard the old quote, comparison is the thief of joy.

Like we've heard it over and over and over.

But when you think about it from a Biblical perspective, joy is a fruit of the spirit that is only found in those with a personal relationship with Christ.

So we could say comparison is the thief of Christ.

Like it's keeping us from Jesus.

We are his.

You are his.

Your body is his.

He dwells in the heart and bodies of all believers.

So I can't remember where I read this, but a couple years ago I was like, when you're in your prayer life, if like if you feel like you're stagnant in your prayer life, just picture Jesus sitting on the couch next to you and you're like having a conversation with him.

So what if Jesus was sitting on your couch and you were having this conversation?

Like would you call him fat or ugly or stupid?

Or why are you constantly a failure?

Like of course you would not talk to him that way.

So when you speak that way to yourself or think those things of yourself, you're essentially saying it about him because when God sees you, he sees Christ because the Holy Spirit is in you.

So remove what is keeping you stuck.

Remove what is keeping you in judgment.

And step 3, focus on Psalm 139, 23, and 24.

Search me God and know my heart.

Test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there's any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

Find a prayer for self-acceptance and ask God to help you see yourself as he does and ask him to help you love yourself as you should.

Because the Great Commission says, as you go, make disciples.

The commandment reads, love your neighbor as yourself.

Well, if you can't love yourself, how are you going to love your neighbor?

You don't have to wait to love your neighbor like we should be discipling where we live, work, and play.

But it's going to be a heck of a lot easier if we are finding ourselves in a perpetual state of joy over our lives and our bodies because of who we are in Jesus.

So ask God to help you.

Ask God to show you what it is that he sees in you, he will provide.

Maybe start a gratitude journal for your body and thank her for all she does for you or she has done for you.

Proverbs 315 says she is more precious than rubies, nothing you desire can compare with her.

Listen, she is more precious than rubies, nothing you desire can compare with her.

She is you, beloved.

She is you.

You are more precious than rubies.

Your worth is not defined in the reflection in the mirror, it is an identity of Christ who lives in you.

Huck that verse in your heart and let it be the anthem of your thoughts.

Write it on your mirror, repeat it out loud, journal it every single day.

Heavenly Father, you see our struggles to view ourselves in your eyes.

Lord, forgive us for taking our bodies for granted and help us to love ourselves as you love us.

We thank you for your unending grace and sometimes painful process of sanctification.

Lord, let us die to ourselves and the world every day and help us to walk that narrow gate and give us the strength to heal our bodies and forgive us for the unkind ways we speak to ourselves and others.

Thank you, Father, for this life, for this body, and mostly for Jesus, the perfect example of grace and peace.

Let us walk humbly in your Holy Spirit obedience today and every day.

I love you, Holy Father.

Thank you and amen.

So will you share this message with someone who is struggling with their self-image today?

God bless you, my friend.

I pray this message finds you hopeful.

Hey, sis, I hope you enjoyed today's episode.

If so, would you take 30 seconds and share it with a friend?

Also, please leave a quick review for the show on Apple Podcasts.

It lights me up to know this podcast is helping you.

Okay, it's time to go make a protein shake and get my sweat on.

No more standing in the kitchen waiting for motivation to appear.

I will meet you back here for another episode.

God bless.