Romans 12:2 (NKJV) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
The world is defining what beauty is to girls. They might be body shamed for being short or fat, and some of them might be growing up in families that pressure them through negative comments. These girls are likely to grow up under-confident. They may even suffer from bulimia and depression and inflict themselves with pain or hurt themselves just to numb the feelings of rejection.
Self-image means “me looking at me”, and those struggling with it will tend to fall back on their historical self-perceptions rather than let new information change their perspectives. Therefore, they must desire for change themselves if they wanted to have a breakthrough in their self-image, but we can help them to intentionally renew their minds with the Word of God by choosing to think of how God looks at them. Instead of falling back on all the negativisms that were said in the past and suffer in silence and defeat, the Word can help them to reprogram how they think and look at themselves.
Born-again Christians should see themselves in Christ. Therefore, they should be saying, “Praise the Lord, I’m a child of the living God; I belong to His family. I have no past because my past is under the blood of Christ. I have a new identity in Christ, and I’ll build my self-image in Christ. I am unique, beautifully and wonderfully made by God. I’m not concerned about how others look at me because what matters is how God sees me. I can’t please everybody because I live in a fallen world, so I’ll begin to look at myself differently. I praise God for my look and figure. I’m priceless because I’m bought by the blood of Christ. I’m accepted in the beloved, seen as righteous, blameless and holy in Christ. I have unique gifts and talents and God has a calling for my life and a good plan for me. I’m seated with Christ in the heavenly places far above all principalities, dominion and might. He is the lifter of my head. I set my eyes on eternity and adjust my values to God’s values. I am more than a conqueror in Christ because of God’s love for me. He’ll never leave me nor forsake me because of His abundance of grace and unconditional love for me.”
Meanwhile, someone needs to accept them as they are, affirm them, love them unconditionally and journey with them. If you are someone who suffers from self-image problem, you might want to give the right to someone close to you to help you renew your mind and remind you to look at yourself the way God looks at you. The paradigm shift will take some time, but breakthrough will come because the Word of God is powerful!
Sermon Series: Help! Go and Do Likewise
帮助别人以神的眼光看别人
罗马书 12:2 不要效法这个世界，只要心意更新而变化，叫你们察验何为 神的善良、纯全、可喜悦的旨意。
世界在告诉女孩们什么是美。她们可能会因为身材矮小或肥胖而受到羞辱，她们中的一些人可能是在以负面评论来施加压力的家庭中成长。这些女孩很有可能长大后自信心不足。她们甚至有可能患上贪食症和抑郁症，并为了麻痹被拒绝的感受而自造痛苦或伤害自己。
自我形象意味着“我看我自己”，那些在自我形象上挣扎的人往往会依赖过去的经历和向来的自我认知，而不是让新信息改变他们的视角或观点。因此，如果他们想要在个人自我形象上有所突破，那么他们本身必须要渴望改变；然而，我们可以帮助他们通过选择思想 神如何看待他们，刻意地用 神的话语来更新他们的心意。神的话语可以帮助他们重新设定自己的思维和自我看待方式，而不是回到过去曾被针对过的一切消极和负面的话中，使自己在沉默和失败中受苦。
重生基督徒要在基督里看待自我。因此， 他们应当说，“赞美主，我是永生 神的孩子；我属于 祂的大家庭。我没有过去，因为我的过去已被基督的宝血遮盖。我在基督里有了新的身份，我要在基督里建立自我形象。我是独一无二的，是蒙 神美妙和奇妙创造。我不在乎别人怎么看待我，因为重要的是 神如何看待我。我无法取悦所有人，因为我生活在一个堕落的世界里，所以我要开始用不同的眼光看待自己。我为自己的容貌和身材赞美 神。我是无价之宝，因为我是基督用宝血所买来的。我在爱子里蒙 神悦纳，在基督里得以称义、无可指责、圣洁。我有独特的恩赐和才能，神 在我生命里有美好旨意和计划。我与基督同坐在天上，远超过一切执政的，掌权的和有能的。祂使我抬起头来。我定睛永恒，调整自己的价值观以合乎 神的价值观。因着 神对我的爱，我在基督里已经得胜有余了。因着 祂丰盛的恩典和对我无条件的爱，祂必不撇下我，也不丢弃我。“
与此同时，也得需要有人接纳真实的他们，给予他们肯定，无条件地爱他们，并与他们相伴同行。如果你是一位困扰于自我形象问题的人，你也许要给身边亲近的人权利，来帮助你使心意更新，并提醒你要看待自己如同 神看待你一样。思维转变是需要一些时间的，但突破必将到来，因为 神的话语是带着能力的！
讲章系列：帮助人！你去照样行吧