Think about this for just a few quiet minutes: Exactly who told you that you’re “fat”? Who told you that you’re “ugly”? Who told you that you’re not qualified to serve at church or go to that party or have a baby or get married or have a good job because you’re “overweight”? Can you put a face to how you received that information?
It’s possible there may have been an actual person who told you some of this negative information. My mother often called me an Amazon or a Valkyrie in expressing her alarm over my large size. Your mother may have been so distraught about her own weight that she sought to “protect” you from gaining more weight by demeaning you for your size.
However, most women usually can’t name a person who told them they’re ugly, fat, and/or disqualified for much of what’s good in life, because it’s “the world” that told them those messages—through movies, magazine covers, pop culture, and even well-meaning health gurus. And who runs “the world”? Check out John 12:31 and 2 Corinthians 4:4. Satan is at the helm of the “world system,” and Satan loves to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10a).
Steal your identity in Christ
Kill your focus on Christ
Destroy your reliance on Christ and his Word
Yes, using implicit and explicit messages, our culture and institutions make it very plain that your appearance is one of the most important bases for judging your worth, especially if you’re a woman. But you have a choice about this. You can believe what the world has told you OR you can believe what God has told you in his Word.
Your identity is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Your focus for approval and acceptance is on Christ and the acceptance he has provided. Ephesians 1:3-6; Colossians 1:21-22
You can rely on Christ and his Word to tell you how well equipped you are by his Spirit for anything in life. 1 Samuel 16:7; Ephesians 2:10, 4:24
Next time you start considering yourself to be less than acceptable, less than beautiful, less than worthy, stop and think about WHO told you that!