Rebuilding

Spiritual Essential: Grace

Reading: Colossians 1:3-14

Grace Before the WeightBad hips. They were an issue for me for almost ten years. Doctors told me it was likely genetic - just a matter of time until they wore out. Eventually, the pain and limitation became so severe that eight years ago I had surgery on each hip, four months apart. Today, I’m a double hip-replacement athlete. And thankfully, the hips are doing great.

Like many people, I found my way back into the gym after COVID hit and work travel slowed down. As part of that return, I started back squatting again for the first time in probably twenty years. Our CrossFit gym offers an evening Olympic lifting class twice a week, and I began working regularly with our gym owner as my coach.

What I hadn’t recognized until he started pointing it out was just how poor my back squat form had become. I was squatting far too shallow. Not only was I missing the full benefit of the lift, but if I ever wanted to compete, it simply wouldn’t work.

Stepping back can be stepping forwardHis recommendation surprised me: take all the weight off the barbell.

For a season, the focus wouldn’t be strength - it would be form. He encouraged me to give myself grace. This wasn’t about how much weight I could move. It was about allowing correct form to slowly reshape the movement so I could handle more weight later.

He reminded me not to be frustrated by the step backward. Not to worry about embarrassment in the gym. Not to compare my empty bar to what others were lifting. Grace meant trusting the process: believing that proper form, practiced patiently, would eventually produce strength.

One year later, I’m starting to see the fruit. I’m squatting well. Weight is gradually returning to the bar. My coach is pleased with my form, and more importantly, I’m finally getting the fitness benefit the lift is designed to deliver.

At the same time I’ve been relearning how to squat, I’ve been reminded of a powerful spiritual parallel.

Paul writes in Colossians 1:6, “The gospel is bearing fruit and growing… since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.” Notice the order. Fruit follows understanding grace, not the other way around.

God’s grace works the same way my coach’s approach did. Grace prepares us. It creates the environment where transformation can actually happen. Before strength comes form. Before fruit comes grace.

Grace never expects too much too soonToo often, we try to add weight before our lives are ready to carry it. We rush growth, compare ourselves to others, or feel ashamed for starting where we are. But the gospel invites us to begin honestly, without fear, without pretense, without earning.

Grace doesn’t excuse growth; it enables it.

When we truly understand God’s grace, we stop performing and start forming. And over time -slowly, faithfully, and correctly - fruit appears.

Not because we forced it. But because we finally trained in the right environment.

Questions for Reflection:

Where in your life might God be inviting you to “take weight off the bar” - to slow down, rebuild, or relearn before adding more responsibility, activity, or pressure?

What would it look like for you to truly understand God’s grace before measuring results? How might that change the way you view growth, obedience, or comparison with others?

Are you training spiritually from acceptance or for acceptance? How does Colossians 1:6 challenge the way you’ve been approaching transformation?