permission to be you
Well hey friend!! Welcome to story time with Lisa.
I’d been a runner for years and an on-again, off-again gym member just as long. One January, I asked my personal trainer (AKA, my sister who had been in full-on beast mode at the gym for a decade) what I could do to build more muscle. Like, actually see a difference.
From a state away, she gave me a quick tutorial and directed me toward the free-weights section of the gym. The side with all of the mirrors and scary bars and benches with no directions and no diagram of a man with red markings to indicate which parts of the body you should actually be feeling this exercise in. The side with all the muscles.
And I’m in there, basically willing to be invisible, did the bare minimum, and scurried home without even breaking a sweat. Filled with shame, I decided that I needed some reinforcements. I ordered a pink pair of weight-lifting gloves from Amazon so I could at least feel like I looked the part. But something about those gloves gave me permission to strut over to the scary side of the gym, face my puny arms in the mirror, grab the 5 pound weights, and feel. the. burn.
And so that’s what we’re going to do today. We’re going to get you fitted with your weightlifting gloves so that you can show up strong in your own life – to BE YOU.
In order to show up strong as your lovely, true, wonderful self, you’re going to need to know how to tap into the power you have through the Holy Spirit, love yourself and others well, and wrestle down your self-discipline so that you can stand firm!
2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but one of power, love, and self-discipline.”
God didn’t create you perfectly and uniquely and equip you with every single thing you’ll ever need to accomplish the plans and purposes He has just for you in your life, send His Son Jesus to earth to show us how to live that very life, watch Him die on a cross, raise Him from the pits of hell, and call Him home just so He could give you a spirit full of fear! Full of cowardice! Full of hiding! Or even full of “meh!”
He gave you His Holy Spirit that lives inside of you right this very minute if you have entered into a relationship with God, and among a million other gifts that He brings to your life every single day, fills you with His POWER, and His LOVE, and His SELF-DISCIPLINE! God has given you these supernatural weightlifting gloves – that will give you permission to literally bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.
Ok, are you ready to fitted for your supernatural gloves now!? Ok, let’s go.
Harness the Power: The very same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead LIVES IN YOU, and has given you the Holy Authority to BE YOU. So I’m going to ask you, do you feel powerful? Have you tapped into that power? And those are huge topics for another time, but what you need to know right now is that you have that power within you, and the Lord is waiting for you to ask Him to activate that power. Turn on that switch. There’s nothing that would delight Him more than to honor that request.
Love is Your Strategy: Love for yourself and love for others. Have you ever had a glimpse into how much God loves you, how beautiful He finds you, how proud of you He is? If you have, you would instantly begin to honor and love yourself as a response. For many of us, we so quickly and easily cling to the most negative parts of who we are, who someone else has told us that we are, or we have been in the past. So I’m asking you, do the work. Ask God to show you a glimpse of yourself in His Holy Mirror, and then let GOD give you permission to LIVE – LIVE like you believe that’s true. And then, you’ll be overflowing with the LOVE – this divine, unending, deep and wide love of Christ. For yourself SO THAT YOU CAN POUR OUT AND LOVE OTHERS.
Wrestle Down Self-Disciple: Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6 to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes… Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm.” Man, talk about self-discipline. Putting on the entire armor of God, every single day. And then standing there and standing firm until He commands you to make a move. Oh my goodness. It’s so much to remember, which is why we need to ask God to engrain it within our spirits, so that it’s second-nature.
I know I threw a lot at you. But I am just so passionate about leading you into an authentic relationship with yourself and with God (and then with others!) These are the conversations I want to continue to unpack! So let’s talk about it!
But remember, today, dear sweet wonderful friend – you have permission today to be you. To stand firm in love. Stand firm in God’s mighty power. Stand firm in who you are so that you can combat the schemes of the enemy. He wants nothing but chaos for you. He wants nothing more for you than to shrink back – in fear. To not become who you were created to be.
That stupid devil wants us to believe that we need to be afraid of our own light. That there’s something to fear when we hand over the reins to our Creator. He wants us to believe that we don’t have permission to be anything but the worst parts of ourselves.
But we do have permission, through the life and blood of Jesus. Through the Spirit that God placed within us – of power, and of love, and of self-discipline. To be ourselves. To do the work that God has placed before us. To show up with our supernatural weightlifting gloves on – not for ourselves, but to the Glory of the One who calls us by name, who knows every hair on our heads, who loves us beyond anything our minds could ever comprehend.
You have permission to show up strong in your own life. To be you. And I want to hear about it. Let’s chat about it in the comments below, or email me (seriously, I love getting email!)
xoxo,
Lisa
P.S. You’re going to want to listen to this podcast conversation below or find it on your favorite podcast platform. And if you’re in the mood to watch the shenanigans unfold, subscribe to the YouTube channel. You won’t be sorry.