Triumph: Week Three

yo yo yo!! welcome to triumph week three! to catch up look at weeks one and two! this week is specifically on body image. hope you love it!

abbie

false label: unlovable

Jesus label: lovely

Well, this is going to be pretty short. I can’t simply sum up the glory of Jesus in a sentence but sometimes it’s best to let Him speak for Himself. The lies I believe about myself are replaced only through Jesus’ love and the gift to see myself the way He sees me.

zoe

false label: too heavy/fat, not good enough because of it, not pretty enough

Jesus label: beautiful, worthy, loved

i’ve always struggled with body image since middle school and I always had the negative thoughts that I wasn’t skinny enough, that I was too fat, that I was too heavy and needed to be lighter so what I did to make me feel better, was to not eat meals. but I did it so often that I was just use to doing it. Going into my freshman year I went to a camp and I had a counselor who struggled with anorexia. Hearing her testimony was definitely the most powerful thing i’ve heard and it made me realize that I was not eating at all. Going into my freshman year of highschool, I was 98 lbs and realized that this is not what God wants me to keep doing. He created us in His image and we should treat our body like a temple not an idol. 1 corinthians 6:19 says. “Do you not know that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you received from God. You are not your own.” Reading this verse over and over again reminded me that taking care of our bodies shouldn’t be a punishment, even if you don’t like what you see in the mirror. You have to learn to shift your perspective. You’ll be able to see your body as a temple and taking care of it will be a joy not a burden that drags you down. It’s a way to honor and worship God with what He’s given is.

kate

false label: I don’t have a good body

Jesus label: God made me the way that He wants me

I replaced the lie with the truth, bc we tend to believe and rely on what we see. So if we believe that we have a good body image, or are beautiful the way God designed us, then that can change how we see ourselves and others as well. Making small changes like telling yourself you have a good body image, can give you the self confidence and self worth we all deserve. God made us exactly the way He wants us to be, think of how much He worked on you in advanced. Can you imagine God saying, “Why are you trying to change yourself? I worked so hard on you..” He loves you in any shape or form. don’t forget that.

elizabeth joy

false label: performer

Jesus label: authentic

This summer I was faced with a loss. someone that i looked up to and respected and admired died to cancer. I thought this loss defined me. I thought that satan had control over me because of this. i took on shame and self doubt and performance. i felt like I had to be strong and fake and happy even when I wasn’t.
the lord taught me through counseling and friends and worship and studying His word that He is the ultimate source of our strength. we cannot live each day chasing label to label for affirmation from the world. that is so tiring and not intended for us!
instead, god calls us to a life of freedom from chasing labels and admiration from others. and i think that’s so worthy of praise.

adeline

false label: you are not what they look like

Jesus label: you are fearfully and wonderfully made!

When I was in middle school/early high school I truly didn’t know my worth. I put so much time and effort into primping, preparing, making sure I looked my best. In a way, I grew up too fast. I skipped the joys of being that age and I tried to make myself look older, prettier, slimmer. And honestly, it worked. I even felt satisfied for a while. Yet I kept spiraling deeper and deeper, just trying to make myself feel like I was worth something. I wasn’t treating my body in ways that were honoring. I won’t get into detail, but if you looked at a picture of my in 7th or 8th grade, you could probably tell I wasn’t healthy and my heart was hurting.

But, throughout all that struggle I can confidently say that the enemy was wrong about me. He was wrong about me and my body and my worth.

I remember the specific moment that I realized I needed to change my lifestyle. It was 7 in the morning and my aunt texted me, “how are you doing?” … I completely caved. I told her everything that had been happening and she encouraged me to tell my parents. In that moment I realized the power of prayer, the power of community, and the power of replacing lies with the truth.

Since then, I am healthy and healed, inside and out. I am beautiful because I know that he created me to be. And that’s not a selfish thing to say! We are beautiful! We are created in HIS image. To say that we aren’t beautiful, is critiquing the work of the one who created the stars.
It’s been a hard journey to get where I am today, but I can confidently dance in celebration now because I know the one who made me. I know the one who takes pride in me. I know the one who saved me so I could know my worth.

And man… that’s a beautiful thing.

sofia

false label: you need to be skinny to be pretty

Jesus label: everyone is beautiful

I’ve been struggling a lot for couple of years now because I gained some weight because something big happened in my life and I started to have depression, the only way that I felt “good” it was if I was eating and eating, I always say that i ate my feeling during that time haha. I didn’t notice at first until I heard someone from my family tell another person from my family how fat I was, that broke me even more. I started to be sooo self conscious of myself, I couldn’t dress the same, I had to be all cover because I felt bad about myself, I couldn’t go outside because I felt that someone was going to make fun of me but then I started relying on God and I understood that in his eyes everyone is beautiful that I AM beautiful. now I thank God for putting people in my life that support me and don’t judge me for how I look. I learned that if I want someone to love me I have to love myself first, and that right now is a bit of a struggle but i’m getting there with Gods help!