We are in the throes of summer where I live. Summer signals backyard barbecues, watermelon juice dripping down kids’ arms, Fourth of July fireworks, and peach cobbler with homemade ice cream. Just about everything feels sweet in summer except for the fact that I have to put on a swimsuit.

I’m not proud to admit this, but last summer I nearly drove myself crazy searching for the perfect swimsuit. I scrolled for days, saving suits to Pinterest boards, reading reviews, and ordering suits off Amazon to try on at home. (I mean who wants to get stuck in a dressing room trying to squeeze their body parts into polyester?)

Now that I’m in my later forties and what I fondly call “the sweaty season of life,” my body feels a little out of whack. Despite an active lifestyle, I’ve gained extra pounds that I can’t seem to keep off. My skin is sensitive. And my hormones are definitely frolicking all over the place, depending on the day.

As a mama to three girls, it’s always been important to me to keep a tight rein on negative scripts about my body. I don’t want to model for my daughters a sense of shame about body image.

The world apart from Christ manipulates us to believe beauty is queen, and it looks a certain way. We are shaped by negative mindsets that tell us we are too fat, too frumpy, too freckled, or fill-in-the-blank to be considered desirable. 

We start to believe all we need to do is change that one thing about ourselves to truly be accepted.

I have learned that I am most vulnerable to these unhealthy mindsets when I am tired, not spending time in Scripture, and not abiding closely with Jesus.

Last summer I took my three daughters to see the Barbie movie everyone was talking about. My oldest is really into movies and loves the director. I thought this film might be a good one for us to process together.

Mind you, I am a second-generation daughter who refused to buy Barbies for my girls when they were little because my mama taught me Barbie was unrealistic and not representative of girls like me with brown skin and thick, curly hair. She didn’t want me to have some unachievable idea of what my body should look like.

We four girls settled into our movie seats with a theater full of mostly women donning every shade of pink. I didn’t have high expectations for the film, but I was pleasantly surprised by the end.

Perhaps the most poignant scene is when Barbie (Margot Robbie) sits down at a bus stop next to an older woman reading the newspaper. Barbie has just been roasted by a teenager in the “real world,” and she’s feeling a little tender about the harsh, unexpected reality she finds herself in.

The two women lock eyes. Barbie pauses, studies the woman’s wrinkled face, and proclaims, “You’re so beautiful!” 

“I know it!” the woman replies with confidence. The woman’s lips curve into a welcoming smile, and Barbie giggles through tears. 

The way I see it, that confident golden girl is ministering to Barbie with her courageous declaration. She is not flaunting her body, but she is celebrating it in all of its baggy-skin-wrinkled-face glory. There is room for this woman and for Barbie on the proverbial bus stop bench. 

It’s a message that made me misty-eyed because I needed to hear it. I want my daughters to feel it in their bodies too. 

Here are truths I’m walking in today as I’m shifting to a Kingdom body mindset:

1. Our allegiance isn’t to culture; it’s to the King.

The culture tells us through a barrage of posts, videos, products, and more that we have to make ourselves beautiful. But the Bible tells us something different. 

“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27 NLT)

Friends, the King created you and me in His image. That means we are created on purpose for a purpose. He looks on us with love and adoration because He fashioned us with His very own hands.

2. Our bodies express the diversity of God’s creation.

The psalmist reminds us that we are each uniquely and purposefully designed to express God’s creativity:

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous — how well I know it.” (Psalm 139:13-14 NLT)

When we walk with courage and confidence in our bodies, we are showing off His creative workmanship.

3. Our bodies were made to worship the King of Kings.

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord,” says Psalm 150:6.

We can use our bodies — our lips, our hips, our passions, and gifts — to praise Him.

We are all beautiful because we are daughters of the Creator King. 

That’s why this year I bought myself an electric pink tankini, and I’m wearing it with pride at the pool. I am 47 years old and more mushy around the middle than I was a few decades ago, but my mindset has truly strengthened. I believe beauty is in every body!

Raise your hands in the comments if you struggle with body image. If you are willing to share, I’d love to hear you replace a lie with a truth about yourself and your body today.

Dorina helps people discover God’s glory on life’s unexpected trails. Subscribe to Dorina’s Glorygram here for reflections, recommendations, and details about her latest kids book, Kailani’s Gift.

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