The Image Trap
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT)
Judge By Outward Appearance or the Heart?
While nearly everyone experiences some level of body dissatisfaction, our media saturated culture has caused consumers to develop complicated relationships with food, exercise and their appearance, creating a rampant epidemic. The emergence of social media has been like throwing gasoline on simmering embers of culture driven body ideals, yielding an endless barrage of digitally retouched images, the mirage of app filters, the perfect moments on display for thousands of followers to see. The pressure to get ‘likes’, followers and rave reviews in the comments only perpetuates the problem. Even the ads, fueled by the $80 billion dollar diet industry, are designed to prey on our body insecurities.
Since social media is here to stay, how do we find a way to be at peace with how God made us and not fall into the image trap? Especially when the world around us questions our appearance, flames our unmet longings and probes our life’s meaning.
Imagine what our world would be like if we cared more about cultivating the soil of our hearts than micromanaging the features of our earth suit? God doesn’t call us to pursue cultural ideals, He calls us to pursue Him. Comparing what we have, what we don’t have and what we wished we had, causes our figurative box of unmet desires to grow especially when we scroll through everyone’s ‘best life’.
Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant! (2 Corinthians 10:12 NLT)
How to Avoid the Image Trap
When we fall into the image trap of comparing ourselves to one another, it cultivates our unmet longings and gets us stuck in the “grass is greener on the other side” mentality. The pursuit of these cultural ideals is a smoke screen of empty promises of happiness, approval, acceptance, and problem free living. Our downfall comes when we compare ourselves to each other instead of to the Word of God. We need to fix our gaze on who God says we are:
Loved (Ephesians 3:19)
Chosen (1 Peter 2:9, Ephesians 1:4)
Accepted (John 15:15-16)
Precious (Isaiah 43:4a)
Redeemed (Ephesians 1:7)
Forgiven (Psalm 103:12)
Victorious (Romans 8:37)
Blameless (Romans 8:1)
Fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)
God’s masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10)
The world wants us to be preoccupied with what the world has to offer but God wants us to be preoccupied with Him. Instead of focusing on what you think your life lacks, focus on thanking God for what you already have. Social media allows us to influence and connect with others on a bigger scale.
What if we changed the narrative on our social media platforms to be kingdom minded pointing others to Christ through encouragement, love, and gratitude? Change starts with each one of us.
This article is brought to you by the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA) and first appeared on the Arise DAILY Devos blog.