Day 4 – Fit for Life Challenge

☀️Good morning! Welcome to Day 4! I hope you had a good nights rest. Hopefully you’ve been starting to implement some or all of the action steps we’ve talked about so far! Today I want to start by asking you a question. Are you a goal setter? Are you goal oriented? Now you’re probably able to answer that fairly quickly. I am most definitely a goal setter. I’m a list maker. I can’t help it. I think I probably made a list for my mom to pack to the hospital the day she had me! Maybe you’re not and that’s ok too. But today I want to talk a minute about goals. Goals are good because they give us something to aim for, they can keep focused. You know the old saying.. if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time!
Do you currently have any goals set for yourself? It may be health and fitness related, or may be in any area of your life… your job, your home life, or wherever. Somewhere between setting a goal and accomplishing it, we usually face the reality that it is more difficult than you thought it would be. So at that point, you can do one of two things; you can quit because it was too hard, or you can keep on keeping on even when you face setbacks or hurdles along the way. But when we set a goal, and although it was tough, and you reach that goal.. man it’s a great feeling!! I always say , if it DOESN’T CHALLENGE YOU IT DOESN’T CHANGE YOU!

So let me ask you, is there something in your life that you know you need to do that you’re not doing? Is there a goal you need to set? Could be about your health or fitness.. could be something else. Whatever it is, what is holding you back? Let’s look at one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Hebrews 12:1-2. This verse is talking about our Christian walk. It’s talking about running the race, so to speak, in our life following Christ. It’s talking about endurance and perseverance.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”.

Now this passage is talking about life as a Christian and it says two things that hold us back from living a life that honors God. One is sin, which we know tangles us up and holds us back. But there’s that other thing.. “every weight” that we’re supposed to lay aside. It’s not specific so what is that? Might not be anything bad necessarily, but it’s whatever that weighing you down in your life that needs to be set aside to run your “race” with the lightness and freedom you could have. Could be worries, or stresses in your life. Could be something that is using up too much of your time… Could be just being too busy… I don’t know but we all have things that we could set aside in our life that’s holding us back from being the Christ-Follower He wants us to be. The rest of the passage tells to look to Jesus as our ultimate example. We are to keep our eyes on Him! In fact, He is the goal! To know Him better, to be more like Him. He endured the cross, with all the pain and shame. He finished the race!

Now let’s get back to goals. This same analogy can used in any goal you set for yourself. What’s holding you back? Let’s talk about this in terms of your health. One “weight” that holds back many people from reaching fitness goals and having a long-term, healthy lifestyle, surprisingly, is going on “diets”! Having a diet mindset needs to go! If you think in terms of your “regular eating” verses your “diet”, you will never have a lifetime of success. It will always be up and down. A “diet” feels restrictive and like a short-term punishment! A diet isn’t a way of life. I hope you will think of all the delicious, healthy foods that you can enjoy for life! Of course a healthy lifestyle includes balance, and leaves room for special occasions, and treats. So today I want to ditch the diet mindset and start thinking about a healthy lifestyle instead! Remember from yesterday, you aren’t alone in this! Look to Christ the author and finisher of our faith.. he’s our example!

Action step 4👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
I want you to think about a goal you have set, or need to set in your life. If it seems too huge to tackle, think about breaking it up into smaller goals. Try to make your goal realistic and attainable. If weight loss is the goal, losing 1-2 lbs a week is a healthy rate. Make your goal measurable. Lastly.. I’m asking whoever is willing to share their goal in the comments. Maybe it’s something you’re already working on. Maybe it’s a goal you recently crushed!! Share it with us! We’re here to lift each other up! Have a wonderful Friday friends!! ❤️😀🙏🏻