We talk a lot about obedience, discipline, and getting it right in our walk with Christ… but what about grace?

In this episode, I share a message the Lord has been placing heavily on my heart—one that was confirmed in a way I couldn’t ignore. We’re diving into the tension so many of us feel when we fall short, struggle to meet our own expectations, or question whether we’re truly equipped to carry what God has called us to.

If you’ve ever felt like your imperfections might be getting in the way of your purpose, this conversation will meet you right where you are.

If this message encouraged you, share it with someone who needs to hear it today. You never know how God might use it to reach someone else.

Make sure to follow Born to be a Butterfly Podcast so you never miss a new episode on healing, growth, and walking in your God-given transformation.

If you’d like to connect, you can reach me on Instagram or Facebook @borntobeabutterfly, or email me directly at ninapajonas@gmail.com.

And if you’re looking for deeper encouragement on your healing journey, my book From Broken to Butterfly is available now on Amazon.

Remember.....

The Lord can turn your wounds into wings; you were born to be a butterfly.

Welcome to Born to be a Butterfly,

where we embrace healing and growth in Christ to experience true transformation.

My name is Nina Pajonis,

and I pray that today's message ministers to you.

This is a word that the Lord has put on my heart.

In fact,

before this message was even finished,

he confirmed his word to me in two different ways,

ways that would stop me in my tracks.

And I'll be discussing those moments with you in just a little bit.

In my opinion,

grace is not something we talk about enough when it comes to to our walk with Christ.

We talk about obedience,

we talk about discipline,

we talk about holiness.

But sometimes we forget that the very thing that makes our walk with Christ possible is grace.

In the last episode, I talked about how we can lose our hope when we place it in the wrong places and how that can delay the fulfillment of the promises.

God has spoken over our lives.

But there's something else that can interfere with those promises,

something deeper.

And that is when we start believing that we are unworthy, worthy to carry them to completion.

That we're not strong enough,

not wise enough,

or just not good enough.

In the last episode, I focused on how we can delay our own promises if we keep setting ourselves up for disappointment,

and how enough disappointment will leads to a feeling of devastation.

But what about when we're disappointing ourselves?

That is the question that we are exploring this week.

And that's exactly where grace comes in.

I have to recognize the fact that sometimes I break my own heart.

I break it when I'm just not getting things right.

And I know I'm not.

In Romans 7, verse 15,

the apostle Paul writes,

I do not understand what I do,

for what I want to do, I do not do.

But what I hate,

I do.

And I have to say that I relate to Paul so much in this.

I am a perfectionist by nature.

It's one of the things I didn't even know about myself until I was in recovery for quite some time.

And I love the Lord so much that I want to get it right all day the time.

But that's impossible.

It was impossible for Paul.

It's impossible for me,

and it's impossible for you.

I always want to be completely forthcoming with my sisters in Christ.

I don't hold anything back about my past, and I'm not going to hold anything back about my present.

So I've got to tell you that I've been struggling spiritually.

In one particular area,

I felt like I had fallen short of the favor of God.

I felt like I did because I had quit smoking cigarettes after I had gallbladder surgery over a year ago,

and I was very excited about it because I had smoked since I was 16 years old.

But unfortunately,

recently I picked up that bad habit again.

Now hear me clearly.

This is not about condemnation and this is not about validation with regard to smoking.

It is a discussion with to regard about how when we fall short of what we know we're supposed to do or what God wants us to do,

we have to learn to accept his grace.

Romans 11:6 tells us,

and if by grace,

then it cannot be based on works.

If it were grace might would no longer be grace.

Grace is not based on works.

They say that plainly in Scripture.

It is the unearned gift God freely gives us.

And yet somehow,

deep inside,

some of us still struggle with trying to earn it or deserve it.

Grace is not about excusing wrongdoing,

bad behaviors or unhealthy behaviors,

but rather saying to ourselves,

for some reason,

I'm struggling in this area now,

and I have to bring it to the Lord so that he can do a work in me.

There's something in my spirit that is in some way self sabotaging.

My walk and the word that the Lord was putting on my heart was,

have to give yourself grace.

Or better put,

accept the grace God gives you.

In fact,

God reminded me this week of how I used to say that very thing to the women that I ministered to.

I have ministered to women for years now,

and at one point I was leading a support group at my former church that had six women in it.

As we walked through that season together,

I found myself writing out a page of affirmations for them,

gentle reminders of who they are in Christ.

Every word came from the struggles I had seen them carry during our time together.

And at the end of that group, I read the words that the Lord had placed on my heart for each one of them.

The affirmations I had written down for each of those women were kept in a book that I happened to find the other day when I was sitting in my car.

I hadn't looked at that book in at least a year and a half,

maybe even two years.

So there I was in my car and I saw the book,

but I didn't recognize it right away.

What I did recognize was the nudge I felt from the Holy Spirit.

He was telling me,

look through that book.

So I picked up the book,

and as I was flipping through it,

I came across the page with the affirmations that I had read to those women.

And these are the affirmations that I wrote.

1.

Give yourself grace.

2.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

3.

Sharing is caring.

4.

You are enough.

5.

The future is bright.

6.

Joy is your strength.

When I read that the other day, I knew that the Lord was speaking to me,

telling me that I need to tell myself the same thing.

It felt like the Lord was telling me,

you told your sisters in Christ these things.

You left them with these words.

I gave you those words for them.

And now I'm asking you to read it to yourself,

to listen,

to receive it.

Because you're not just meant to minister using these words.

You're also meant to live by them.

I want to be perfect for my Lord and Savior.

I really do.

And I don't know if there's pride wrapped up in there, but I'm sure there is.

I want him to know how much I love him by being as good a person as I possibly can be.

So when I'm not,

when I fall short,

I am really,

really hard on myself.

And yet the Bible clearly tells us that there is no condemnation in Christ.

So why am I condemning myself for falling short?

Why am I condemning myself for my shortcomings? I'm not supposed to.

I'm supposed to bring it to God. I'm supposed to ask him for his help.

I'm supposed to accept his grace so that I can get to another day where I still love and value myself,

where I'm not berating myself spiritually,

emotionally,

or mentally because of a weakness.

When we fall short,

we have to learn not to let that define us.

We have to know that every victory,

every battle we win is worth something.

Even if we don't win every single battle,

it doesn't take away all the other good things we have done in our lives or all the other places in which we've experienced a tremendous amount of growth in Christ.

There are days where I feel really good about my walk.

And then there are other days where I know that I wasn't as peaceful as I usually am,

or that I lost my patience with something that I shouldn't have.

But let's ask ourselves this.

How often do we lose patience with ourselves?

I find, as a woman, that there is this illusion of perfection that we strive for.

I say illusion because that's exactly what it is.

No one is perfect.

The only one who is is the Lord our God.

The truth is,

we are continuously evolving and transforming.

I'm not saying to accept his grace so that there is no. No growth.

I'm saying to accept his grace as you're growing,

when you have setbacks,

it doesn't mean you failed.

It means you had a rough moment,

a rough day,

or a rough season.

And you can overcome that with the Lord's help.

If I had any question as to this word of grace that the Lord has given me,

that he has so strongly put on my heart,

I received yet another confirmation.

It happened the other day when I was driving and I pulled up to a light.

I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me again.

He was telling me to look at the cars next to me.

So I looked.

There was a truck to the left of me with a sticker on the back of it.

And the sticker said,

Charis C H A R I S And immediately my soul knew that word was significant because the Lord pressed it on my heart right there in that moment.

As soon as I could, I pulled my car over and I looked up the word.

And what I found stopped me in my tracks.

Charis is an ancient Greek word meaning grace.

But in the New Testament, the meaning goes even deeper than that.

Charis is the word used to describe God's unmerited favor.

Ephesians 2. 8. NIV says,

for it is by grace you have been saved through faith,

and this is not from yourselves.

It is the gift of God that verse tells us.

That verse tells us that we are saved by Charis.

Not because we earned it,

not because we perfected ourselves,

not because we got everything right,

but because God freely gives it.

And there is another part of the meaning of Charis that really moved my heart.

It also means divine empowerment.

It refers to the grace of God working through believers to empower them for service,

to strengthen them for the work he has called them to do and to equip them with the spiritual gifts to carry out their assignments.

Grace is not just forgiveness.

After the fall.

Grace is what God gives us so that we can rise again.

Grace is the strength of God working through imperfect vessels so that his perfect message can still reach the world.

I am a work in progress,

just like you.

But what a beautiful,

fearfully and wonderfully made work in progress we are.

And that's something we have to remind ourselves of every single day to anchor our identity in Christ,

even on the days we don't feel Christ like enough.

Because pride will keep us from advancing the kingdom. If we insist on perfection,

it will prevent us from walking in the assignment,

promise and mission God has given us.

God never said we had to be perfect to receive his promises,

because if that were the case,

no one would receive them.

Only he is perfect.

Only he is sovereign.

And he gives grace abundantly because he knows we need it abundantly every single day.

Now let's listen to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9 about grace.

But he said to me,

my grace is sufficient for you,

for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Weakness is not the end of the story.

Instead,

it becomes the very place where God's power is revealed.

I have always loved that piece of Scripture.

And what has always stayed with me is when the Lord says,

my grace is sufficient for you.

What I hear is,

I can cover those broken places in you.

You can still do my work.

You can still carry my message.

You can still be who I've called you to be because my grace covers you even in your imperfections.

But the line that I always hold closest to my heart is this.

My power is made perfect in weakness.

Because I believe what the Lord is saying is that the perfect use of his power is to strengthen his children in the very places they are weak.

It is in those places where we struggle,

where we don't get it completely right,

where he steps in,

covers us,

and carries us with his strength.

It's like a cracked vase.

If we are the vessels,

then his power fills every crack,

every place of imperfection,

so that the vessel can still carry his message into the world.

A message of love,

faith,

hope,

joy,

and of life everlasting.

The truth of the Gospel,

all carried through imperfect vessels because his power is made perfect in weakness.

There is something so deeply loving about that that a Father would choose to use his power not to discard what is broken,

but to sustain it,

strengthen it,

and still use it for good.

Sisters,

we have to remember,

if we don't see ourselves the way Christ sees us,

fearfully and wonderfully made,

beautiful even in our imperfections,

loved even when we stumble,

then we will struggle to live in that truth.

His grace is favor on our lives.

It doesn't mean we deserve means.

He loves us enough to give it to us.

It's not about us.

It's about Him.

The Lord loves us as we are,

but he also loves us enough not to leave us as we are.

His grace gives us the opportunity to grow more like him and to grow closer to Him.

So when God gives you grace,

accept it.

Not as an excuse to stay the same,

not as permission to keep walking in sin,

but as an invitation to grow,

to recognize that what you stumbled over is not where you're meant to stay.

As we close today,

I want you to sit with this truth.

God's grace is not something you have to earn,

it's something you're invited to receive.

If this episode blessed you,

please share it with someone who needs it and follow Born to be a Butterfly so you never miss an episode.

If you would like to connect or if you need prayer,

please feel free to message me on Instagram or or Facebook at Born to be a Butterfly or you can email me@ninapajonasmail.com the link is in my episode description until next time, Sister.

Remember,

healing is holy.

Transformation is possible.

The Lord can turn your wounds into wings.

You were born to be a butterfly.