We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this age. Ephesians 6:12

Why is inner voice so mean? You’ve heard the cliche . . . “You wouldn’t talk that way to a friend, why would you talk that way to yourself?”

That’s nice and all. But, I think it overlooks one important thing: We’re in a battle. Our thoughts aren’t all original.

The scripture passage from Ephesians printed above points something out to you (and I) need to remember and know. Our problems with our body image aren’t struggles between us and our jeans size.

We aren’t fighting flesh and blood.

We aren’t fighting with ourselves. We are fighting a real enemy.

One who wants to destroy us and to make sure that we never fulfill God’s plan for our lives.

Those voices you wrestle. The ones you hear and don’t know how to stop… I know them. I’ve heard them. They say things that you don’t ever want to say out loud. So, I’ll reveal some of them here:

“If you were prettier, you’d have a boyfriend/husband.”

“If you were thinner, he’d want you more and wouldn’t wrestle with lust.”

“You are so lazy- you never exercise enough.”

“I can’t believe you just ate all of that. Look at how fat you are getting.”

“If you looked like her, you wouldn’t feel so bad.”

“You need to get some willpower and lose this weight. Then everything will be better.”

Have you heard any of these lines?

Maybe there are others you regularly hear, too.

Then, you pick up a magazine, turn on the TV or even talk to a friend and they’re reinforced.

But I need you to know something.

These lines aren’t from your own heart if you are a follower of Jesus Christ.

These are the whispers of the enemy, who the Bible tells us works to steal, kill, and destroy.

Sadly, it’s working. His schemes are effective. He’s destroying women through eating disorders, risky behaviors, and the host of other ways that we act out when we don’t feel good about the way we look. He literally kills women each year through these same vehicles.

He destroys our ability to be used by God for his purposes because we stay caught up in the trap of insecurity fueled by his lies.

That voice in your head, friend. That’s the enemy.

Tell him to leave.

It’s time to quiet your mind and find peace through Jesus Christ to face this issue without all the noise in our head. This is more than just “changing your self talk” or “muting your negative self talk” like you hear pop psychologists suggest.

It’s bigger. This is spiritual warfare.

Recognize the lies that he’s been feeding you and replace them with this truth: You are already loved, accepted and valued just the way you are through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for you.

Through Jesus, you are already enough. He’s lying to you.

We get really, really mad when people lie to us, don’t we? I get irate. I’ve been known to fly off the handle when truth is exposed and I discover words were misleading. Finding out someone lied about me . . .Yikes. That makes me pretty frustrated too. I want to set the record straight!

 

Get mad at the enemy for lying to you.

Please. Please. Stop allowing him to have this kind of a voice in your life and speak truth to the lies you’ve been believing. Speak life back into your own life and squash his voice of condemnation.

Expose the lies and the liar. He’s saying things that aren’t true to you and about you. So tell him to stop.

I’m not saying that this is the “simple solution” to your body image struggles, but I do firmly believe (and know from experience) that recognizing the lies we hear in our heads–and recognizing their source– can be a good early step down the road to freedom.

Jesus died for your shame. Don’t let the enemy give it back.

This is important. So, I want to pray for you right now:

Dear Heavenly Father, please help my friend expose the lies the enemy has been whispering to her for so long. Please help her to clearly distinguish his voice of scorn from your voice of acceptance and grace. Help her to feel your love in a new and very real way today. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

 

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