Popular media today drives people to do one thing with their body image—change it. Products and advertisements are crafted to make men and women feel that their physical appearance is inadequate. We're presented with standards and perceptions of what we're supposed to look like and who we're supposed to be like.
This has made many people feel a lack of self-affirmation. We are basically made to believe that our skin has to be flawless, our body shape has to be slender, and our hair has to be of a certain texture for us to be considered valued.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to look attractive. But there is a danger in drawing our self-worth from how we look and how we think others perceive us. Our worth, ultimately, comes only from how God sees us.
The Bible tells that God values us, and that we are worth more than just our physical appearance. Even on the basis of appearance, God looks at us and calls us "very good."
Here are four Bible truths that affirm our true worth.
1. God made us in His image
God's Word reminds us that we were created to be reflections of the image of God. Genesis 1:27 tells us, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
While we were once stained by sin and degraded by it, Christ made us whole through His very own sacrifice. As a result, we can once again say that we are made in the likeness of God through Christ.
2. We are God's masterpiece
God did not manufacture us in a factory. The Bible tells us that each one of us was especially handcrafted by God and given specific plan, design and personality. We are not factory outputs, we are masterpieces. Ephesians 2:10 tells us, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
3. We are wonderfully made
When God made us, He wonderfully and carefully crafted us. Nothing about our physical appearance is a mistake. In God's eyes, all our features are just right. In Psalm 139:14 the psalmist says this, "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."
4. Jesus purchased our body with His blood
We all know that Christ paid for the restoration of our spirits. He also did the same for our physical worth. Jesus died for our physical well-being, health and wholeness. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
