Spiritual Fitness

For a long time, I kept trying to get into exercising. I wasn't sure if I wanted to work out at home or go to a gym or take a class, but I knew I needed to do something. I would try different places, but I didn't do very well because I didn't have much muscle strength in the areas we were working. So I would give up, realizing that I needed to get stronger before I could go work out.

Finally, a friend dragged me to a fit class and, although it was hard and I couldn't do everything, I could almost feel myself getting a little stronger. And then it hit me: I don't go to a fit class to show off my strength that I already have. I go to fit class to get stronger. I'm not supposed to be perfect when I go in. Strength will come in time, but I have to go and work for it.

Now, in case you're thinking, "That's great and all, Jenna; but where exactly are you going with this?"

Just hang in there. I'm getting to the point.

When I was younger (probably close to 10), I was seriously considering joining the church and partaking in the Lord's Supper. I went through not one but two Communicant's Classes (basically, they taught what it meant to be a Christian and what it meant to take communion) and my pastor even came over to talk to me for a while. I can't even tell you how many hours my dad and I talked about it.

But I always came back to the understanding that I wasn't ready. After all, before you can take the Lord's Supper, you have to examine your heart and see if you are unrepentant for any sin. I don't think I ever had this conscious thought, but I always had this mindset that, if I did something wrong, God was going to zap me as soon as I walked out of church. I kept waiting, hoping that one day I would be good enough to take communion.

I was twelve when I stopped short. Wasn't that the entire point of the Lord's Supper? Doesn't it exist BECAUSE I'm not perfect?

It seems so simple, but it took many years for me to reach this point. I'd always known about God, and I've been in church almost every single Sunday of my life. But when it came to understanding grace, no one could just teach me. I had to come to that realization myself.

I officially joined the church not long after I understood this, and I celebrated with my church that day because I had finally discovered the center of Christianity: grace.

I've talked about Ephesians 2:8-9 before, so I won't go into it in too much detail, but this verse summarizes my understanding of grace.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

All my life, I had been trying to figure things out myself, trying to make myself perfect; but it was no different than me not wanting to work out because I wasn't strong enough. It's grace--and only grace--that saved me. There's nothing I can do to save myself. But God will give me strength to be more like Christ as I commune with Him. He doesn't expect me to be perfect now. He expects me to have faith and let Him save me.

Just like going to fit class, partaking in the Lord's Supper doesn't require me to already be strong. All I have to do is come in faith.

And isn't that amazing? Isn't grace amazing?