Bible Verses: Identity Crisis

Hi all we are back in action after some delay. . . we will seek to dive in. This week and next we will cover Glorifying God with our Bodies. I cannot wait but I will post a warning that this will dive deep into this issue and bring up potential roadblocks to growth with Christ. These posts are not intended to judge, incriminate, or otherwise frustrate but they are intended to invoke the Holy Spirit with which at times can come conviction which is a powerful attribute of change.

Please be warned that these posts may confront you in ways that you wish not to be confronted, and if that occurs it is done in the intention of freeing from bondage, growing with the Lord, and glorifying God with our body. Here we go: As always please share your thoughts in the comments section or on Facebook.

Week 1: Glorifying God with our body: Body Image

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."

This week we will focus on the second portion of this verse and next week we will pick up the first part of it. So our focus this week is not being our own, being bought with a price. How can our body image become a roadblock in our relationship with Christ? I see two obvious avenues although there are more that will not be listed. I will list two here that are pretty encompassing:

1. A Higher Vision: Our body image can become so important and so inflated that like a balloon it seeks to take us higher, and we become intoxicated in self praise, self adoration, and unhealthy habits. I will seek to discuss some of these but this is by no means comprehensive. An inflated view of self can inhibit our relationships as it leaves those we love in a pressure war to constantly validate us. It can also create a pride and arrogance that prohibits us from spreading the love of Christ. The need for constant adoration can have us in bondage to the approval of others creating potential unhealthy habits to feel included and wanted. In the end this is not what Christ seeks for us. Instead, He seeks that we view others as more important than ourselves, that we serve others, and that we put to death pride. In the end this brings us contentment not an unhealthy false high that seeks destruction.

2. A Lower Vision: Our body image can also be infected by lies and false reality portrayed by our culture, that creates the disease of self loathing which has its own negative effects. Self loathing can occur from constant comparison to others rather than comparison to Christ. It can occur from past hurts, fears, or breakups. In the end the person in the self loathing category cannot be effective for Christ because they cannot see their worth or the worth of others in and through Christ. This can create a host of problems and issues and leave a person in a diseased shell, this has obvious effects on relationships, careers, and family life.

Both of these visions have common ground they are elevating body image to an unhealthy degree, thereby enslaving the individual. Body image in the Bible is not to be esteemed in the least degree, rather we are to esteem character, conviction, and relationships. My prayer this week is that we would all seek deep and find the roots of these two common maladies and seek to defeat and remove them so that we can walk with the glory of God as our goal.

We were bought with a price and therefore we have been ransomed from all bondage by the power of the Holy Spirit. . .