I sat this morning about to post a picture on social media of Doodlebug and myself after my daily workout.

And I stopped myself.

I stopped myself because I was unhappy with the way the photo looked.  “It’s not perfect,” I told myself.  “This is not worthy of Instagram and no one will “like” it,” I thought.

What the heck!

 

 

I wasn’t being judgmental of my over cluttered fridge in the background or the fact that I have a small home and I have to exercise in the kitchen most days.  I was judging my appearance and the misconception that I had not worked hard enough, long enough, or made enough progress on my journey.

But that could not have been farther from the truth!

 

My transformation has been just that, MINE.  And why should I be judging my progress on someone else’s perceived perfection?

 

God created us in the image of his-self (Genesis 1:27).  And though we do not always treat out bodies as the temples that he intended (1 Corinthians 6:19), he still offers us grace.  So why not offer ourselves grace?

 

Progress Over Perfection

To quote a friend, I’m not talking about being a “grace abuser”.  (This means intentionally saying, “Oh, it’s okay if I eat this entire tub of ice cream.  It happens.  I’ll do things differently tomorrow.”)

But granting ourselves grace during change is incredibly important in our end result.  I have given up many, MANY times on my health and fitness because I made mistakes.  I wasn’t “perfect”.  And let’s be honest…Giving up is so much easier than believing that we are worthy of grace.

Think about it.

How do you feel trying to be perfect in something and then having a setback?

Do you just give up right then and there at the sight of a stumble?  I used to.  I let myself believe I was not capable of making progress in my health and fitness journeys because I didn’t deserve it.  I had failed.  And failures didn’t deserve perfections.

NEWSFLASH!

We are not perfect.  Yet we all strive to be that one thing we can never achieve.  And the path to “perfection” is filled with errors and insurmountable obstacles.  A recipe for failure.  (Isn’t Satan sneaky?)

 

 

 

Grace During Change

Too many times I have let my self believe I was not worthy of any grace because I did not make enough change.

I was not “perfect” in my nutrition. (Wing night anyone?)

I did not perform the “perfect” workout.  Or, on some days, any workout.  (No rest days allowed.)

But what good does this really do for us?  Do these lies push us harder?  Not usually.  Most people would just give up.  And as a friend shared with me the other day,

 

“I already know what giving up feels like.  I want to see what happens if I don’t.”

 

But knowing what that journey looks like means we have to deliver ourselves grace during difficult times.  Grace during these times of big change.

 

 

The Truth

The truth is, without those tribulations we would not be so grateful of the changes our bodies are going through.  And if change were easy, no one would need to change in the first place: the goal of perfection would be just one simple step forward.

If we are making a conscience effort to create a change, we should grant ourselves grace from time to time.  Don’t abuse grace and use it as a “cheat”.  Instead, learn from the slip ups and put into place a system to do better next time.  God sees us as imperfect, yet loves us and offers us grace daily.  Recognize your unworthiness of this grace and embrace it.  I know I am far from worthy of grace, yet I am clinging to knowledge that I am loved regardless of my stumbles.  This along with the yearning to learn more and do more, gives me the fuel I need to stay on my health and fitness journey.

 

Do you feel worthy of grace?  Are you forgiving yourself when you stumble on your health and fitness goals?

Drop me a comment below to let me know what you think.