BIBLE TOPICS

Body Image

Our body image and our public image are tightly linked, for better or worse. But God sees us on the inside. And no matter what we look like, we are made in God's image.

Day One: Physical Appearance
Physical appearance is important to God in that it reveals the glory of His creative abilities. So we should appreciate the beauty God has given us as His most complex and amazing creation. God crafted each of us (Jeremiah 1:5) to look exactly as we do, for His own perfect reasons...
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For more, see "How should a Christian view weight loss? What does the Bible say about obesity and weight loss?"

Day Two: Beauty
To define what is beautiful is difficult because beauty is, as the old saying goes, in the eyes of the beholder. What is beautiful to us may be ugly to another. To regard something as beautiful, it must meet our own definition and concept of beauty...
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For more, see "When does hygiene cross the line and become vanity?"

Day Three: Body Image
The Bible has a lot to say about our physical bodies. Genesis 1 describes the unique ways in which God designed the first man and woman. God spoke the entire universe into existence (Genesis 1:3, 6, 9). But when God created man, He took the dust of the earth and formed Adam's body...
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Day Four: Shaving
The Old Testament law forbade priests from shaving their heads or beards (Leviticus 21:5). In the ancient Hebrew culture, men usually had long beards. In fact, it was considered a disgrace for an adult man not to have a beard...
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Day Five: Earrings
There were men and women in the Bible who wore earrings. The Bible nowhere condemns an earring or earrings in women or men. Some people wonder why earrings are for the most part accepted, but other body piercings are considered questionable at best...
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For more, see "Should a Christian wear religious jewelry, such as a crucifix?"

Day Six: Nudity
Many pagan cultures throughout history considered public nudity normative, especially Spartan, Greek, and Roman societies. In more recent years, pubic nudity has become more and more acceptable, with many groups promoting a "back-to-nature" philosophy and the supposed health benefits of taking off one's clothes...
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Day Seven: Goth
A Christian's viewpoint on the Gothic / Emo movement should be avoidance of the culture's dark attitudes while still loving those involved in it. Yes, there are definitely certain aspects of the Gothic and Emo subcultures that are incompatible with Christianity, but no more so than similar aspects of mainstream society...
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For more, see "Christians and the Furry/Punk/Steampunk/Ren Faire/Cosplay Lifestyle"

Image Credit: stevepb; Untitled; Creative Commons