Eating Disorders - Part 2

It’s 6:30 Monday morning and your alarm goes off. As you get out of bed and look in the mirror how do YOU view yourself? As you pick out your clothes what thoughts go through YOUR mind? As you head to the kitchen to grab breakfast how do YOU decide what you eat? Every moment of our day we are faced with thoughts that reflect our self value and worth. 
 
Through culture and media the world informs us that self-worth and value is based upon outward appearance. Having the “perfect body” is what we are told to strive for. With perfection being the “goal” we are guaranteed to fall short causing an unhealthy perspective of our own body image. 
 
There are many negative reactions to this perspective, one commonly being an eating disorder. Two examples of eating disorders are Anorexia and Bulimia currently affecting 8 million Americans, of which 88% are girls (©SCDMH 2006).
 
Anorexia is a disorder resulting in starving our bodies while bulimia is a disorder causing binge eating which develops self guilt resulting in purging. Eating Disorders lead to a false sense of self-control while being physically damaging to our bodies.
 
When we look through Scripture to find our true self-worth and value we can replace worldly “perfection” with Biblical truth. Cover to cover we find that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139), that we have unfading beauty (1 Peter 3:3-4), that our body is not our own, but God’s (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and that God focuses on our heart not our appearance (1 Samuel 16:7). As believers our true goal comes from seeing ourselves as God sees us…holy and beautiful.
 
Parents, it’s inevitable that you play a significant role in shaping your child’s self-image. How are you doing pointing your child to Biblical truth when they are struggling with self-esteem? In what ways are you training them to see the difference between worldly and Biblical expectations of how they view themselves?  
 
Through the ups and downs of your relationship with your child, remember you are still a daily part of their self-worth development. Therefore, how does your relationship with your child look today? 
 
So as we run, and at times walk, this race of life together let’s cling to God’s Word. We serve a perfect God who intricately created each one of us. Trust that He loved making us exactly the way we are.      

---

Campers Corner:
Some of the biggest pressures you will face in life come from your peers at school. How you respond to them is part of what shapes your self-worth. Stop and consider how you view yourself. What are your worldly expectations (temporal) for yourself and how can you replace them with Biblical expectations (eternal)? You are worth far more than you can imagine.