Struggling with Body Image: Seeing What God Sees

Ask the Christian Counselor

by Lainey Greer

Lainey Greer helps readers to see what God sees when he looks at us and gives a biblical basis for caring for our bodies, without negativity or obsession.

Everyone has a body image, and whether from society’s influence or age-related changes, most people battle a negative one. In a world with confusing messages about the body and social media’s promotion of unattainable standards for thinness or muscularity, it’s difficult to think well about our bodies. Greer, a counselor and fitness trainer with a firsthand understanding of body image struggles, helps readers reject negative messages and embrace a biblical vision for thinking about our bodies.

Because our bodies matter to God, it’s important that his Word, not the world we live in, informs how we view our physical selves. Struggling with Body Image helps believers develop a biblical understanding of the body that is foundational for a God-honoring body image.Practical biblical help for building a positive body image based on God’s Word instead of the world we live in.Shares stories about others’ struggles with body image that will identify root issues.Part of the Ask the Christian Counselor series, walking readers through their deepest and most profound questions.Compact format goes deeper than New Growth Press’s popular minibooks without overwhelming the reader.

Genres: Counselling

95 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 19, 2024

Reviews

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I originally picked this up and thought “I don’t struggle with body image” and this book should be mostly for teen girls! Well, I was wrong on both accounts.

Turns out:
1. We all have a lens through which we think about our bodies. Too, with the world of social media, we potentially have more of a subconscious lens and filter through which we think about our bodies even more than we realize. Teen girls and boys, middle aged women, new parents, and retirees ALL hold to a significant body image in their current phase of life and in their future phase of life. Our body image ebbs and flows throughout our lives because our bodies change, and it’s often developed very early in our lives.
2. After reading this, I realized young boys in puberty, menopausal women, and retired and aging men all have struggles with body image. It affects us all!

This book covers a thorough Biblical theology and understanding of how to view the body — one that was designed intentionally with care by God. It also provides examples of negative body image for all stages of life, and at the end (one of my favorite parts), it gives examples of 3-5 different people that have a body image struggle and practical ways to apply the teaching discussed in this book to see their body as God does and honor it as such.

For those with young kids, you should read this. For those in the church struggling with cultural issues, you should read this. For new moms and dads with changing bodies, you should read this. For those with aging parents, you should read this. For those with the constant desire to be in the gym and not enjoy your favorite foods, you should read this. For those who overindulge and punish your body the next day, you should read this. This is a book everyone should read!

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to start out with a clear suggestion from the get-go. If you struggle with an eating disorder, depending on the severity, some of the suggestions may actually make it harder for you to recover especially since most eating disorders to require psychological help often including intensive treatments and medications. Often though the actions around eating disorders may be choosing to not treat their bodies well, there is often an underlying suffering and trauma that they are attempting to cope with through their eating habits.

Who this book is helpful for is the biblical counselor or family member who is trying to help their counselee/family member who is struggling with an eating disorder have a biblical mindset about how God has created their body. I would encourage the helper NOT to hand this book to their friend as an assignment, but to use this book as a tool to help them see themselves the way God sees them.

This book is a helpful tool also for those who struggle with the day-to-day body image issues that the Fall has left us with and to have a biblical mindset as we approach it.

"Because of the divine power given to us in the gospel, Christians can strive to switch out that middle filter, our subjective framework, for an objective one built on God’s Word. This striving to think biblically about our bodies will be a process, just as the battle against any sinful pattern takes time and intentional effort. But as we seek to know God’s Word, confess lies, receive forgiveness, renew our minds with truth, and rely on the Holy Spirit’s power to work in us, our body image will change."

This time and effort of progressive sanctification and leaning on the Holy Spirit are what the struggler needs no matter the variation of their struggles and the helper/counselor needs to gently guide the struggler to Jesus no matter how long it takes.

[Katelyn Friesen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Through thoughtful research in clinical, historical, and biblical worlds and principles along with bits of experience from herself and stories of others, Lainey Greer thoroughly describes disordered bodily thinking from disorders such as body dismorphia, anorexia, bigorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and gender dismorphia. After knowing the historical and social contexts for these various issues and answering questions such as “what is body image and why does it matter?” “Where does negative body image come from?” What are disordered responses to negative body image? What is the world’s responses to negative body image? And what does God’s Word say about negative body image?, She then dives into examples on how to honor God in the bodies we were given specifically with people’s body image issues stemming from postpartum, menopause, old age, puberty, and disability. Through using 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 as a guide, we discover how to think biblically about our bodies no matter the age, stage, or season we may be in. This book is great for people looking to counsel those with body image issues as well as those who struggle themselves. This book contains great reminders no matter what you think about your body as it is very practical in how we view ourselves and others.

[Alyssa Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for being a really great resource on the topic. It’s a fairly short book and is a lot of biblical truth to combat lies (which is what you need to fight sin!)This is something I struggled with in college and felt myself slipping into again, and Greer does a fantastic job of reminding the reader to look at God and then at self instead of always looking to ourselves and comparing it to standards that we cannot reach outside of eternity (perfection) or looking for satisfaction in something that never satisfies. These were just a few of the many principles she listed. I’ll likely pick this up again to truly get it to stick in my mind

[Rebecca Feere · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was more textbook in style than I anticipated, with a few reflection questions at the end of each chapter. It helps believers understand a biblical framework for body image through which to filter their thoughts. The author does make it clear that challenging lies and applying truth is an ongoing process.