Set Free From Success // So How's Your Self-Image Looking?, Part 3

<p class="p1">The world tries to tell us what success and wealth and popularity and beauty and all those things should look like, and by definition therefore, who we should aspire to be. But what if life’s not about those outward measures of success at all?</p> <h3><span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>BODY BEAUTIFUL</strong></span></h3> <p>Let me start today by letting you in on a little secret, so that you understand where I’m coming from on this whole body-image thing. For most of my adult-life until a few years ago, I hated seeing myself. I hated looking at my face in the mirror, and I hated even more seeing a photo of myself. In fact, as much as possible, I avoided photos. Why? Because I was grossly overweight, and that was something that I was deeply ashamed of. I struggled with my weight all my life, and as someone who pretty much always succeeds at things I turn my hand to, I hated (I mean, I absolutely hated) the fact that I couldn’t succeed at looking good.</p> <p>It’s a terrible thing, I can tell you, not to want to look at yourself in the mirror. You avoid it studiously, and it eats away at your self-esteem. People would never have guessed it of the apparently bold and confident Berni Dymet, but it was the scourge of my life. Of course, I finally found out what was causing me to be so grossly overweight, and that’s something that I share in a free E-booklet called ‘<em>How I Lost 25 kgs</em>.’ You can download it from the Resources section of our website, ChristianityWorks.com if you’re interested. Thousands already have.</p> <p>But do you see my point? When I come to talk about body image, I’m speaking as someone who has struggled with the body-image thing for most of his life, so this is not a theory lesson; this is someone whose life has been transformed by Christ speaking here.</p> <p>Now before we get rocking and rolling to talk about the emotional side of body image, let me say this: What I am not saying is that we shouldn’t worry about our health and our weight. The thing that’s causing gross o