In Session Three of the 50 Days of Transformation video, Pastor Rick Warren talked extensively about the battle for our thoughts and minds. He talked about a study he read that says we don’t actually see things with our eyes. We see things with our brain first and our brain in turn, tells our eyes what it wants us to see. Our brain sees things through a filter and that filter is based on our hurts and pain and how we think about things based on our past or previous experiences.
Even though I’d previously heard something similar, when Pastor Warren said it, I had a real “Aha!” moment that brought a lot of misconceptions I have about myself into perspective.
I’ve shared in the past that as a young teenager and well into adulthood I suffered from Bulimia. Along with the negative self-image and low esteem that accompanies this affliction, I also suffered in silence with a close relative of the disease called body dysmorphic disorder, also called BDD.
BDD is a body-image disorder characterized by a persistent preoccupation with an imagined or slight defect in one’s appearance. People who suffer from BDD can’t control their negative thoughts and don’t believe people who tell them that they look fine. Their thoughts may cause severe emotional distress and interfere with their daily functioning. They may avoid social situations, miss work or school and isolate themselves, even from family and friends, because they fear others will notice their flaws. For years I was the queen of this club.
While I’m no longer held prisoner by these bodily struggles, I still carry many of the scars from this lifelong battle with my body image. Hearing Pastor Warren explain that what we see with our eyes is really only our brain telling us what we see I suddenly realized how I’d let the enemy control my mind in this area. My battle with BDD was based on what I had been told as a child by cruel people, some uncaring family members and then later in life, by my ex-husband.
If we choose to believe a lie long enough, it eventually becomes a truth to us.
I cannot get back those years that I wasted hating myself and the way my brain told me I looked. I didn’t have the relationship with Christ back then that I have today. Today when I look in a mirror my thoughts are filtered through the Word of God so I try to focus on what is pure, lovely, true and noble. When a negative thought tries to push its way in, I do my best to replace it with a positive thought from God’s Word.
How do you see yourself? Do you believe the lies of the enemy? Do your eyes see through the deceiver’s filter or through the filter of God’s Holy Word? If you can’t see yourself as God sees you, perhaps it’s time to stop listening to the lies of the enemy and see YOU as your Savior sees YOU … a lovely reflection of your Heavenly Father.
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)
Blessings in Christ,
Kathy K.
“If we choose to believe a lie long enough, it eventually becomes a truth to us.”
That is so profound, Kathy!
Good stuff! Thank you for sharing:-)
Thanks for being so transparent Kathy.
I’ve known physically beautiful people who didn’t think they were, unattractive people who thought they were so beautiful (& by their attitude they became more so), people I thought were beautiful until I knew them better & then their looks seriously didn’t seem as pretty to my eyes as before. Looks matter soooo much in the teen years, still matter–but not to that absorbed state later on. As you get older you realize just being young has beauty (my mom used to say that). This is an issue that can cause so much pain & heartache–only God’s love can heal.