A Misplaced Focus on the Body

People focusing on their own looks often claim they hate their body. But Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:28-29:

“In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church…”

So you do not hate yourself because you feed, take care of, and worry about yourself, which means you love yourself. So it is not about loving yourself too little, it is about a misplaced focus and obsession on self and loving God too little.

The Scriptures reinforce that focusing on your body is connected with sin or just outright rebellion. After Adam and Eve defied what God had clearly told them not to do, it says in Genesis 3:7, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” Sin is simply becoming your own god, and Adam and Eve let go of their childlike hearts and took over. A young child has no awareness of their body or looks—they simply love the authority or parent. The more innocent you are, the more outward and upward you are; the more sinful you are, the more inward and focused on earthly things you are.

Read more in Weigh Down Works!