Lighthouse Baptist Church
and Christian Academy

I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.

Isaiah 44:2 (CEV)

I get a choice

1. I am completely dependent on God - Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image."

2. I am independent of God -

Don't be misled; remember that you can't ignore God and get away with it: a man will always reap just the kind of crop he sows! [8] If he sows to please his own wrong desires, he will be planting seeds of evil and he will surely reap a harvest of spiritual decay and death; but if he plants the good things of the Spirit, he will reap the everlasting life that the Holy Spirit gives him.

Galatians 6:7-8 (Living)

When you're living independent of God, how I see me and how others see me matters.

Issues associated with body image:

• Anxiety
• Phobias, indecision, procrastination
• Dissatisfaction
• Envy
• Broken relationships
• Obsessive-compulsive tendencies
• Eating disorders
• Depression
• Suicidal impulses

Old habits of thinking about your body include:

• Insecurity,
• Feelings of insignificance,
• Desire to control,
• Fear of rejection and failure

Body image involves your perception, imagination, emotions, and physical sensations of and about your bodies.

• Is ever changing; sensitive to changes in mood, environment, and physical experience.
• It is not based on fact.
• It is influenced by your self-esteem more than by actual physical attractiveness as judged by others.
• It is not inborn, but learned.

Women are starving themselves, starving their children and loved ones, gorging themselves, gorging their children and loved ones, alternating between starving and gorging, purging, obsessing.

Your body image is formed out of every experience we have ever had - parents, role models, and peers who give us an idea of what it is like to love and value a body.

Image is formed from the positive and the negative feedback from people whose opinions matter to you.

What is body image?

• How you perceive your physical appearance
• How you feel about your appearance
• How you feel about your body
• How you think others see you

With a positive body image, a person has a real perception of their size and shape and feels comfortable and proud about their body.

With a negative body image, a person has a distorted perception of their shape and size, compares their body to others, and feels shame, awkwardness, and anxiety about their body.

Dissatisfaction with your body affects how you thinks and feels about yourself. A poor body image can lead to emotional distress, low self-esteem, dieting, anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.

Many things can spark weight concerns for teens and impact their eating habits in potentially unhealthy ways:

• having parents concerned about their own weight
• having parents who are overly concerned about their child's weight and looks
• natural weight gain and other body changes during puberty
• peer pressure to look a certain way
• struggles with self-esteem
• media images showing the ideal female/male body as thin

It's not wrong to want to be attractive. However, beauty begins inside a person.

A gentle, modest, loving character gives a light to the face that cannot be duplicated by the best cosmetics and jewelry in the world. A carefully groomed and well-decorated exterior is artificial and cold unless inner beauty is present.

The way you see your life shapes your life. You don't see things as they are, you see them as you are.

Your perspective on how your body should look, how you feel about your appearance, how you think other's see you determines your level of relationship to others.

Your level of perfectionism with your body determines

• Your expectations,
• Your values,
• Your relationships,
• Your goals and
• Your priorities

beauty disappears

Proverbs 31:30 (TEV)

Definition: Perfection means mature or complete not flawless.

Developing a Healthy Body Image

Here are some guidelines (Adapted from BodyLove: Learning to Like Our Looks and Ourselves, Rita Freeman, Ph.D.) that can help you work toward a positive body image:

1. Listen to your body. Eat when you are hungry.
2. Be realistic about the size you are likely to be based on your genetic and environmental history.
3. Exercise regularly in an enjoyable way, regardless of size.
4. Expect normal weekly and monthly changes in weight and shape.
5. Work towards self acceptance and self forgiveness - be gentle with yourself.
6. Ask for support and encouragement from friends and family when life is stressful.
7. Decide how you wish to spend your energy - pursuing the "perfect body image" or enjoying family, friends, school and, most importantly, life.

So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female.

Genesis 1:27 (NCV)

You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe.

Psalm 139:16 (Living)

Christianity is profoundly and wonderfully different because we are accepted, forgiven, loved, and valued not for what we achieve, or how we look, but because of Christ's perfect sacrifice for us.

How can you be perfect?

perfect because of what Christ has done

Colossians 1:28 (Living)

because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Hebrews 10:14 (NIV)

(1) In character. In this life you cannot be flawless, but you can aspire to be as much like Christ as possible. Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, Honesty, Courage, Diligence, and Integrity

• Your character is defined by what you do, not what you say or believe.
• Every choice you make helps define the kind of person you are choosing to be.
• Good character requires doing the right thing, even when it is costly or risky.
• You don't have to take the worst behavior of others as a standard for yourself. You can choose to be better than that.
• What you do matters, and one person can make a big difference.
• The payoff for having good character is that it makes you a better person and it makes the world a better place

(2) In holiness. Like the Pharisees, you are to separate yourself from the world's sinful values. But unlike the Pharisees, you are to be devoted to God's desires rather than your own, and carry his love and mercy into the world.

(3) In maturity. You can't achieve Christ-like character and holy living all at once, but you must grow toward maturity and wholeness. Just as you expect different behavior from a baby, a child, a teenager, and an adult, so God expects different behavior from us, depending on our stage of spiritual development.

(4) In love. You can seek to love others as completely as God loves us. You can be perfect if your behavior is appropriate for your maturity level-perfect, yet with much room to grow.

Your tendency to sin must never deter you from striving to be more like Christ. Christ calls all of his disciples to excel, to rise above mediocrity, and to mature in every area, becoming like him. Those who strive to become perfect will one day be perfect, even as Christ is perfect.

THREE STAGES OF PERFECTION

1. Perfect Relationship - When you become his child, you are declared "not guilty," and thus righteous, because of what Christ, God's beloved Son, has done for you. This perfection is absolute and unchangeable, and it is this perfect relationship that guarantees that you will one day be "completely perfect"

2. Perfect Progress - You can grow and mature spiritually as you continue to trust Christ, learn more about him draw closer to him, and obey him. Your progress is changeable because it depends on your daily walk.

3. Completely Perfect - When Christ returns to take us into his eternal kingdom, you will be glorified and made completely perfect.

All phases of perfection are grounded in faith in Christ and what he has done, not what you can do for him. You cannot perfect yourself; only God can work in and through you to "carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil 1:6).

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

Matthew 19:21 (NIV)

Only voluntarily abandonment of property and riches and a deliberate devoted attachment to Jesus Christ. You must loosen yourself from all that is holding you back.

The conditions for discipleship are not the conditions for salvation. You are at perfect liberty to say "No, thank you. I am very grateful that you saved me from hell, I am very thankful I have escaped the abominations of sin, but when it comes to these conditions, you ask too much. I have my own interests in life, my possessions.

Commitment

1. What do you need to sell to become perfect?
2. Are you ready to begin a relationship to Christ?
3. I will no longer try for perfection?
4. To increase your devotion to Christ, what possessions might he ask you to sell?