Lessons from a bike

I’ve been doing workouts on my Peloton bike for a few months now. One of their instructors, Robin Arzon, has a quote: It doesn’t get easier, you get stronger. It is the quote that has stuck with me the most & given me a lot of encouragement. When I first started riding, I wanted it to get easier! I would think Ok, next week, this won’t be as hard. Six months from now, this will be easier. A year from now, I bet I breeze through this. Wrong! It does not get easier! I am challenged every single time I get on that thing! It’s sometimes a love/hate relationship 😂

I have also seen this to be true in my daughter’s twirling. Every year, I think: Her solo will be easier next year because she will be a much better twirler. But the fact is, her routine is hard for her every year. This is because it has much harder tricks in it every year. Yes, if she went back and did a routine from two years ago, it would be easier, but today’s work is not easy. It’s hard – because she is growing; she’s getting better; she’s becoming a stronger twirler.

How true is this in our spiritual lives?

As Christians, we start out as simply being believers. We believe that Jesus died for us, and we ask for forgiveness of our sins. We receive the forgiveness that He offers and therefore receive eternal life. But that is just the beginning. Because at this point, we are just baby Christians. We don’t understand the vastness of God’s love for us. We don’t know His full character. We need to grow & to become stronger Christians. The more we learn, the more we grow in our faith.

But at no point does it get easy. The Christian walk can be very difficult at times.

~ It’s tough when the world is telling you to do one thing but you know that doing the opposite is the right choice.

~ It’s tough when we are convicted of our sins.

~ It’s tough simply being human and fighting temptations, including our own selfish desires, and choosing to follow Him instead.

We are never promised that it will get easier. But we will definitely get stronger🤍

As we strive to become more like Christ, we become a stronger Christian. And we can encourage others to do the same. As we grow, we can look back & say “Look how far I’ve come”. I am definitely not the same person that I was 10 years ago. And I pray that I’m not the same 10 years from now that I am today.

Here’s the best encouragement: Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭20 says “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

God is with us everywhere we go, no matter how hard life gets.