Day 10: Hopeful & Excited

As we finish these 10 days together, I want you to know something:

I care deeply about you and love you.

I want you to have a strong, healthy body that is full of energy.
I want you to wake up feeling fully loved.

I want you to see your own unique beauty.
I want you to experience joy always.

I want you to have peace that truly goes beyond understanding.

This may sound strange since there is a good chance we’ve never met, but it’s the truth. I literally am tearing up as I write this because I know the only reason I feel this way is because God has put that love in me. 

I believe with all my heart that the things we’ve talked about over these past nine days - your thoughts, your habits, your community, your faith, your health - will help you step into all that God has for you. 

But I want something even deeper.

The real passion that inspired me to write Love Yourself Healthy comes from a few verses that God completely put on my heart a years ago. I was in church, and when these verses came on the screen, it was like God blacked out the rest of the room and put a flood light on these words from  Matthew 9:36–38:

“When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’”

I knew God was trying to get my attention, so I asked Him what do you want me to know about these verses. I felt like He spoke these words into my heart, “This is the true mission of Faithful Workouts. I want you to prepare people to go into the fields.”

Honestly, I was like - “Really?? Me?? God, maybe you forgot about my past, maybe you don’t realize that I’ve never gone to Bible school. But I just knew I wasn’t supposed to argue. I was supposed to obey. 

So, given that mission for Faithful Workouts, my real hope is that something is stirring in your heart that excites you to share His love with others. 

I remember listening to Tim Tebow speak, and he said how God has given him a mission field through football, and then he said that God has also given each of us our own unique mission field, and each day that we roll out of bed, we’re stepping into our mission field. No one else will walk the steps we will that day and interact with people like we will. So we need to pray each day that God will use us to touch all who are in our mission field that day. 

Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t take us to heaven the moment we believe?

If heaven is better, why are we still here?

I believe He keeps us here for one reason: so others can know the Truth. So others can experience His love. So others can one day spend eternity with Him too.

So as this challenge ends, this is my prayer for you:

That you get rid of any lies that are holding you back and replace them with the Truth of what God says.

That you experience His love for you just as you are.

That you love yourself enough to make time to care for your body.

That you walk in joy and unshakable peace.
And that you never forget you are here on purpose.

The harvest is still plentiful.
And God is sending you.

Please don’t walk away from this and go back to your old way of thinking. It is going to require work. Satan wants you so badly to bring back the lies, don’t let him.  Paul says in Colossians 1:29

“I work very hard at this as I depend on Christ’s mighty power that lives within me.”

If you are willing to put in the work and if you open your heart to God’s Spirit that lives within you, you can step into the full life that God has for you. 

I close with these verses:

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32