Oh, body image…nothing can affect a wife’s confidence (or more often, lack thereof) quicker than a poor body image.
So many of us women suffer from low self-esteem. Normally all our self-esteem issues revolve around our physical appearance. We are obsessed about our weight, hair, skin, facial features and so many other areas. You would be hard pressed to find a woman that would not change at least one thing about her appearance. Why do we find it so hard to love ourselves?
Advertising, pornography, Hollywood, our own unrealistic expectations and possibly even hurtful comments from our husbands have merged into the perfect storm. Time and time again we are told that to be beautiful we need to look like a super model. The media tries to make you feel lower than low every single moment of your life. An unfathomable amount of damage has been left in that storm’s wake.
It is no wonder that so many wives (maybe yourself included) are not overly thrilled about getting naked in front or a mirror, let alone with the man they married.
I don’t know about y’all, but my body certainly doesn’t look like it did when I was 20. I’ve had babies, nursed babies, I have stretch marks, widened hips and gravity has certainly not been my friend. My body has transformed. Each transformation seems to ingrain more bodily shame.
How can we stop this body image war? What is the secret?
Well, first of all, I wouldn’t hold my breath for the media, advertisers and the porn industry to change. I’m not so sure that is going to happen anytime soon.
I can be confident. You can be confident. We can all be confident. We can walk through this world with heads and hearts held high as daughters of the King. Daughters who are messy and broken. With Him, we are transformed into beautiful simply because we are His. Understand your identity in Him and the beauty and freedom He bestows on us and the love He extends to us.
