Body Image Issues, Disordered Body Behaviors & Perfectionism: Robyn Wright's Story Pt. 1 | 015

Robyn's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/robyn.bricco.7

Robyn's Email:  FaithfullyLivingFit@gmail.com 

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Have you ever felt trapped in a cycle of perfectionism, body image struggles, or disordered eating? In this powerful episode of The Redeemed Perfectionist Podcast, host Lenee’ Pezzano sits down with Robyn Wright, a former competitive bodybuilder who battled bulimia, body dysmorphia, and the relentless pressure to perform.

Robyn’s story reveals how easy it is—even for Christian women—to become enslaved to appearance, fitness, or success. Yet it also shows the power of God’s grace to break chains, heal shame, and restore true identity in Christ.

If you’ve ever tried and failed to “fix” yourself, or felt condemned for returning to the same behavior again and again (Proverbs 26:11), this episode will give you hope and practical steps to:

• Move from bondage to freedom in Christ
• Trade performance for grace
• Begin walking in your true identity as a daughter of God

You are not too late. When you give God your “yes,” He will show up. Join us for this honest conversation about body image, bulimia, perfectionism, and the healing love of Jesus.

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Transcript

Body Image Issues, Disordered Body Behaviors & Perfectionism: Robyn Wright’s Story Pt. 1 | 015

Leneé Pezzano: Have you ever been in bondage for so long that you could not even imagine a way out? Or maybe you've tried again and again to overcome an addiction, only to fall right back into it? You might even carry deep conviction over a behavior you keep returning to. Like Proverbs 26:11, it says, as a dog returns to His vomit, so fools repeat their folly.

If that hits close to home, you're not alone. Today's guest is a living, breathing example of what it looks like to feel trapped in destructive cycles, and yet to discover that God can restore hope, vision, and freedom. Here's the good news. This episode isn't just her story. It's about your story too.

Over the next two episodes, you're going to walk away with treasures, practical steps you can take to move from folly to wisdom, from bondage to freedom. And sister, hear me, you are not too late because when you give God your yes, he will always show up. You're going to walk away with treasures, practical steps you can take to move 

[00:01:00] from folly to wisdom, from bondage to freedom. And sister, hear me, you are not too late because when you give God your yes, he will always show up.

Leneé: Hey, sis. I'm Lenee’ Pezzano, host of the Redeemed Perfectionist podcast, and I'm a testimony of one who spent years living in more foolishness than wisdom. And now I am passionate about helping women like you believe that no matter how many times you fall short, God will restore faith, hope, and freedom. If you let Him, he desires for you to hold on to this promise.

As I prayed for you today, I hear the Lord say that His love knows no distance. He will teach you how to stand. Trust is a must. Put faith to your feet and hold onto His promise. 

[00:02:00] You're not alone and His love knows no distance. He will surround you with ministering angels who will be added support to every step of faith you take.

They will be right there with you, encouraging your bold, empowering each step, cheering you on to the finish line. I see him planting seeds all around you of freedom and not destruction. People may try to distract you. Don't listen to the noise. Put one foot in front of the other and know that with him, all things are possible.

He will be your best friend and your path to freedom. He will lead you in the hills and valleys through fields and mountains, leaving many blessings along the way. Put on your armor. Be strong and courageous, my friend. 

[00:03:00] He is listening and he sees your heart again. His love knows no distance. Be bold and courageous.  A new song is coming, A song of freedom and deliverance. 

Leneé Pezzano: We are here today with Robyn Wright, a dear sister in the Lord, formerly a competitive bodybuilder, currently a wife and a mom of two sweet boys living in Illinois. And a daughter of king Jesus. And there's just a whole story that we're gonna unpack today for you all.

Robyn, thanks for being here today. 

Robyn Wright: Yeah. Thanks so much, Lenee’. 

Leneé Pezzano: This is just an honor to, to sit with you. Yeah, sit with you and talk. It's been years since you and I have connected, but it feels like just yesterday. And that's just a divine thing. We just love that about the Lord. But I think, 

[00:04:00] part of what I shared with you is there are just so many women in the Lord even who struggle with things like body dysmorphia and, of course the redeemed perfectionist is all about breaking free from the spirit of performance and pressure and shame and really understanding the grace of God.

And so you have a story and certainly there's something that led you and drove you into your journey into bodybuilding. So maybe we start there. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey into bodybuilding. 

Robyn Wright: Yeah, absolutely. And I just wanna just affirm that statement that there's so many women specifically that struggle with these body image and this relationship with food. And it's not confined to the world. It's many of our sisters in Christ who they've come to know Jesus as their Lord and their Savior. And yet still these tentacles of these messages from the world 

[00:05:00] have just kept them in bondage to having a free relationship with food and fitness and their body.

And I love that you're speaking to this topic because it's right in the vein of my heart and my message and what I feel like God has called me to bring to the body of Christ specifically. Amen. I'm excited to share today and amen. Have a story. I grew up in a very chaotic home.

Both of my parents were addicts and we were outcasts in this like small country town where we were growing up. And so that just came with a lot of shame from the very beginning, and when you ask what drew me to this body building space? It started with sports really, so when I got old enough to participate in sports, I discovered that, wow I've, I'm fast. Like I'm strong, I've got some athletic ability. And part of just the way that God created my build as well is I just carried muscle for a girl. I was lean and had, these little biceps, I remember being a little girl and people asked me to flex my biceps to show my 

[00:06:00] biceps, and I had this little six pack, and my, my unique build was just more muscular. And then I was also athletic and, my identity began to be really connected to performance. And I was driven to be good if not the best, I truly wanted to be the best and. And I think I connected that too.

If I was the best, then I would have a different life than the one I was growing up in with all the chaos and the drugs and the alcohol and the police calls and the fights and I wanted out of that environment. And I think I connected to this if I can be successful, if I can be pretty, then I can create a new life.

Not only were my parents addicts but my mom also had bulimia and my sisters battled their weight. And like I said I was the athlete with the little biceps and the six pack. And so I, I already felt different than those around me. I watched my mom battle bulimia and at a young age just have vivid memories of 

[00:07:00] walking in on her engaging in that. And it really I think those are just subconscious messages that are sent to the heart of a child. And so there was a lot of emphasis on looking at my surroundings and the people around me and I didn't want what they had. But I remember hating my body at a young age and long to be skinnier even though I already was.

So this message was sent to my heart at a young age to wanna be skinnier to, I have curly, beautiful, curly hair like you Lenee’. I feel like we're curly haired sisters. Yeah, we are unapologetically too. I love my curls now, but same, but I remember, I dunno about you, but I wanted long, straight hair, yes. I wanted to be taller. I'm five two. I wanted to be taller, so I had these desires to look different and to be in a different body than my own. And I don't know if you've ever heard this, but I feel like this fits into my story, is that pride and shame are two sides of the same coin.

Yes. On the one hand I had this 

[00:08:00] I'm an athlete. I'm fast and I'm strong and I'm good at sports and I've got this like athletic body that performs really well. But also I felt so much shame and hatred towards my body and yeah. Wanted something different. And so I just really lived in that space for so long.

Yeah. And as things progressed, I loved playing sports in high school, but more than that, that I loved fitness. Even from that young age, I trained above and beyond of what coaches asked of us. I'd go out and do sprints and off season and go for long runs, and I'd be going on walks, dribble in my basketball and, so there was so much performance orientation.

Yeah. And it can look good, right? That, that would be considered elite. That's how Olympians train. And that can all be almost celebrated yet still be coming from a wrong spirit. Yep. Absolutely. And, and honestly, in some ways I think I did use exercise to regulate my central nervous system.

Yeah. I think it brought me feelings of 

[00:09:00] strength and control. Sure. And was, it was both a positive that helped me deal with the environment that I was, but I had heard a pastor say that when good things become ultimate things, ultimately they become destructive.

That has just like stuck with me for so long because here were these good things, the idols were just building up in my heart, yeah. But when I got outta high school, I got my first gym membership and I would work out with a personal trainer who was for free because he was trying to get me to go out with him.

But like being in the gym just became like a drug to me. What was, once sports now became very specific to changing my body or building my body into a certain shape and look, and I remember there was a woman that competed in bodybuilding shows at the gym, that first gym that I went to, and it just caught my attention and I was drawn to the look of the muscles, the leanness, the veins and I would ask her questions about exercise and diet.

[00:10:00] And so that was really my first touch point to bodybuilding back there. And then, I dated a bodybuilder or a gym rat and and so it just started to evolve into this culture that I stepped into when I got into the gym. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. 

Leneé Pezzano: And so at some point then you engaged more fully and began to compete on your own, at what point can you look back and say perfectionism maybe took over or, what was your method to get to that standard you were reaching for? Did you feel like it was enough? You obviously won, you were a competitor, but you were, sometimes first, second, third place. Easily brought home trophies, but what was really going on through all of that? 

Robyn Wright: Yeah. I feel like in, in some ways, just as we've even started, you have to go back before you can go forward. in telling the story and the process of what was going on in me, and so I say bodybuilding was like the worst thing that I could have signed up for, given where I was at in life.

[00:11:00] And I think an important part of the story is in that season of life when I was 19, so the year before I started competing in shows I had gotten pregnant by that guy that I had talked about, so I wasn't walking with the Lord. I was this broken girl from this broken past.

And I got pregnant and just really thought my life was over. I was devastated. I already had this body dysmorphia and this disordered eating patterns. And here I am pregnant thinking that my body is ruined, my life is ruined. I swore I would never do this because my saw, I saw my sisters do it and just hit this season of life where I was just like, I thought my life was over.

And I was 19 weeks pregnant. I had discovered that my cervix was beginning to thin and I would eventually go into preterm labor. And I promise this fits into the story. So I'm studying the stage for something here, but yeah. Yeah. So I eventually did five weeks on bedrest in the hospital before.

[00:12:00] I did go into labor at 24 weeks. And had a very traumatic birth experience, emergency C-section, gave birth to my daughter at 24 weeks old. And that was you don't realize how much you can love someone until you have a child, so here was this 19-year-old little girl who all I cared about was like my body. And suddenly I'm looking at my, my, my daughter on life support. And and so there was a shift in my heart that happened in that space.

But unfortunately she only lived for three days and she did go be with the Lord. 

Leneé Pezzano: And what was her name? 

Robyn Wright: Her name was Kira. Okay. And God really met me in that space of like brokenness. And I cried out to him and he met me in some really beautiful and supernatural ways.

But a lot of that experience and what brought me to the Lord after that, the traumatic loss of her and it got buried 

[00:13:00] on the mountaintop of coming to faith, and I remember God meeting me in such sweet ways of strong, independent girl that you thought you were is not gonna get through this without Me.

So I was starting to see some of that perfection and performance in me and that that my world was shaken so deeply that it, started to shift some things in my heart, but even in that there were just areas that hadn't been touched by the gospel, even in that encounter with the Lord and that loss.

Yeah. And literally Lenee’ shortly after healing from my C-section, I was back in the gym like doing medicine ball, sit ups and just through that loss and that grief you're groping for control. Yeah. And for me it was starving myself. not eating and working out.  In the midst of that grief and that pain, it was like, I need something I can control, yeah. And I had done five weeks on bedrest, so I actually got really 

[00:14:00] thin and then I was grieving a loss that I had never, imagined. Yeah. I got lean and I already had this muscular build.

So yeah, I enter into the gym and I'm like the thinnest I've been in a long time. I'm naturally muscular and eight months later I'm competing in my first bodybuilding show, as a figure competitor. I'm 20 years old. So on the heels of this traumatic experience, again I don't know if you've ever heard this phrase, but unprocessed emotions don't die.

They get buried alive. Yeah. And so that whole traumatic experience, in some ways God met me in beautiful ways and other ways, it just got buried and it thrust me even further into this journey of performance and perfection and control and shame. Yeah. 

Leneé Pezzano: And Robin, at what point did you get introduced to the Lord?

Was this a situation where you were coming back to the Lord or was it a first encounter and you just knew or had anyone shared the gospel with you? 

Robyn Wright: [00:15:00] Yeah, so that's a great question. I honestly, Lenee’ can remember you know how in the Old Testament they talk about setting up alters of remembrance.

Yeah. I can go back and look on my story and see how God was jealously pursuing me from being that young little girl in this house where my parents were addicts and I felt like I don't belong here. God, I was created for more than this. And I remember even my parents and their, addiction had a level of reverence for God.

And there was a picture of Jesus on their bedroom wall. And I used to stare at that and just know that Jesus was the son of God. Like I knew that he died for the forgiveness of my sins, even though it wasn't a message being communicated in our home. But when I heard it 'cause we grew up in that small country town and everybody went to the same church except for us.

But when I heard. The gospel. I knew it was true. I would pray as a little girl, like now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. 

[00:16:00] if I should die before I wake. Yeah. Pray the Lord my soul to take it, soul to. So there was this childlike faith from the beginning.  There were seeds of faith in my heart from the beginning. And then, when I was 15, I had another touch point where God, I was going to this church in Chicago area, and the Lord met me in just a really supernatural way as this 15-year-old little girl prophesied over me, slain me in the spirit.

Just super cool story. But yeah, I was always coming back to this place where the seeds get choked out in a lot of ways. Yeah. And so there were touch points and I have those alters of remembrance, but I didn't know what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. But I will say I had this childlike faith.

And so when Kira died, I immediately had a longing to cry out to the Lord and talk to a pastor and started going to a church for a little while and was in, in a lot of ways growing fast, but. the discipleship wasn't really going deep. And so I 

[00:17:00] lived back and forth between the world and this knowing that God was real, knowing that I could hear His voice knowing that he loved me, but not really sure how to fully get to him or how to like, walk with him or live with him or what do we do about this?

I actually really wanna have sex and I wanna smoke pot sometimes and I wanna get drunk. Yeah. I wanna wear my tiny little clothes and yeah. So like holiness wasn't really there. but yeah when she died and when I started entering into competitions, I would say I was a very lukewarm young, baby believer.

Leneé Pezzano: Yeah. Without necessarily the tools to process or even identify all of the big and little t traumas that would have even led you to even drive for the things you were driving for, the decisions you were making, like the root issues, if you will. Yeah. And if I remember correctly, I could be wrong, but when I met you, you had just coming out of 

[00:18:00] a breakup, I think with the gym rat you spoke of.  Wasn't this somebody you almost married as well? 

Robyn Wright: Yeah. Yep. This was the second gym rat that I, so the first one was Kira's father. And him and I broke up shortly after her death. And then I'm, I started dating another guy who was a bodybuilder. And we dated for two years.

He competed in bodybuilding shows as well. And yes, we were engaged to be married. And I actually called that wedding off the day of our wedding, which is, yeah. A pretty incredible story as well. I have a similar in my own life, so I get it. And you know what, you said something about not having the tools.

What I don't feel like I really had Lenee’ is identity. And so that's right. Because my identity was so wrapped up and how I looked and how I performed and what these men thought of me because I remember starting to date this 

[00:19:00] gentleman and I just thought he's as good as it gets.

He's one of the biggest guys in the gym and he chose me, and so there was this, I have to stay on point here yeah, you need to be the, the hottest figure competitor in the gym and I need to stay lean. And what, if I gain weight, he's not gonna love me anymore and if I don't have sex with him, he's not gonna love me anymore.

So I had no identity. Yep. So I had heard the gospel, I understood that Jesus was the son of God who died for the forgiveness of my sins. And he was this Savior, but I didn't know him as Lord and I didn't know him as Father, and I didn't know him as Friend. And my identity was still so wrapped up as this broken little girl who had to prove and earn her love.

And a lot of those beginning years of dating this guy, getting engaged, bodybuilding was still I really didn't know who I was. And so it was easy to live in compromise when you don't really know who you are. 

Leneé Pezzano: [00:20:00] Yep. A hundred percent. Wow. So then at what point did you begin to realize all of that was behind it and you began to pursue the Lord as your Lord and things began to really change for you?

Robyn Wright: Yeah. It was definitely a process from Kira's death to, me calling off my wedding with my boyfriend at the time was definitely a process. But I will say you, those years, and it was probably like a three-year period, was tormenting Lenee’, to have tasted and seen the goodness of God.

And yet to be like that dog that continues to go back to their vomit, was a tormenting place to live. And at this point I competed in a couple of shows. I was full on bulimic. Nobody knew it.

Leneé Pezzano: So you weren't like in real, in healthy body building, they would have you eat a ton of calories. 

[00:21:00] That wasn't how your approach was. You were actually starving yourself or bulimic and so you were just naturally thin and muscular. It it fueled the fire, if you will, worked to your benefit in that regard. But it was super unhealthy for you, is that right? 

Robyn Wright: Yeah, for sure. So like I had shared earlier, coming off of Kira's death, I was lean and I was restricting calories and I was working out.So I was just walking aroundlLean. Yes. And then started prepping for a bodybuilding show. End up winning my first show. My class had no idea. I remember taking off my clothes in the backstage room and one of the judges looking at me and he knew my coach at the time, and he's like, you just won.

And I'm like, what? I'm hoping to win top 10 maybe. Yeah. And I end up winning my class. I'm like 20 years old. But coming off of that show, what I didn't realize would happen is the rebound of it thrust me into the binging. So I wasn't binging and purging prior to getting ready 

[00:22:00] for that show, but following it, I gained a bunch of weight, within 24 hours. in my opinion, what I saw was I looked sloppy and overweight and fat and I was panicked. And I didn't realize at that time, but bodybuilders would walk really heavier in their off season. Yeah. But I looked at all those women and I thought, there's not a chance and heck that I'm gonna walk away.

Walk around looking that, that way because I was so critical. Yeah. I had this obsession with wanting to be thin and lean and so I judged all these other women walking around and I was like, I am not gonna look sloppy in the off season. But not only that, I'm also malnourished. Yeah. So a lot of the binging was because of how malnourished I was.

And so I would binge and then I'd freak out and I'd panic and I'd make myself purge. I would take laxatives. I, my, my boyfriend at the time, he would do anabolic steroids and illegal stuff, and so he would get 

[00:23:00] me clenbuterol, which was an illegal fat burning drug. And I would take that.  I literally Lenee’, I overdosed on it and ended up in the hospital. So all of this while, claiming to be a Believer, right? And yeah. Wanting, I was in church on Sundays and I'm like getting chosen to be a part of college ministry and stuff like that. And in internally, I am just tormented by this obsession with wanting to be thin and this fear of being fat because I literally used to say I would rather be dead than fat.

Wow. Yeah. And so it was just this stronghold inside of me. Yeah. and honestly I think part of what kept me turning to show prep is because if I prepped for a show, I would be lean. And so it was really how I would keep myself or get myself back lean again.

Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, tons of disordered eating, tons of body dysmorphia. I would binge and then I would be crying over the toilet, begging 

[00:24:00] God to forgive me, begging God to deliver me. I felt totally powerless. Yeah. And just stuck. I had never known what it felt like to be an addict, like my parents. And here I was following in the footsteps. Following the footsteps. It just looks different. Yeah. 

Leneé Pezzano: Okay man, I love. How, honestly, how descriptive, because I just know there are so many women relating right now. I think I shared with you body dysmorphia has been probably the biggest stronghold for me that, that drove me to spending all kinds of money, all kinds of time and energy just trying to achieve a particular standard that I really never did achieve.

And I look back and I thought I was fat. I wasn't fat. I didn't even get to enjoy what I had back then because I was so deceived. And the thing is, as I approach my mid-fifties now, I mean there are just things that change in your body and you're not gonna be able to reverse that.

[00:25:00] And if you don't have a strong sense of identity, you won't break free from some of these strongholds. And full transparency, I'm just now starting to really face the extent to which the body dysmorphia has been there and the roots of shame underneath it all. And I can, I know there's a particular weight that if I start to creep up to that weight or go past it, I'm full of shame.

I'm in tears. Can't stand to look in the mirror, can't stand to look at pictures of myself. Others would say, but you're so beautiful and you're so this and you're so that. And I would be like, I'll see any of that. Doesn't matter. Can't see. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. I and women who maybe are super overweight would get mad because they're like, I wish I looked like you.

And they think that you can just flip a switch in your brain. And and you can't and something in you wants to repent and wants to accept the truth, but it's a stronghold and God has to deliver us and 

[00:26:00] we have to try to align ourselves with Him. And I'm at that place now of, I need you to teach me how to get through this because I'm clearly not getting delivered here, so help me, Lord.

Yeah. So there had to have been a point for you where you started to realize, okay, something's gotta change. So what did that look like for you? What did that transition look like? 

Robyn Wright: Yeah, definitely. So I think the bulimia continuing to get severe. and just carrying the weight of that shame and that secret life.

It was tormenting, like I said. And so I finally got to a place where I was like, I can't keep doing this. I'm depressed, I'm sad. I hate the way I look. I would try to do Daniel fasts and I would pray and I felt like I was dishonoring God and I was living in sin because I would spend my money on a binge and then I would purge and there was conviction around stewardship there.

Yeah. But I was just really hitting a point where I told my 

[00:27:00] boyfriend, I told my mom, I told my coach and really started to come into the light around that, I even went to one session at a clinic, but I panicked because I was like, they're gonna make me eat more food and I can't, I'll get fat.

And so the bulimia really. Brought me to a place of crying out for help and recognizing that I probably needed to step away from this world of bodybuilding because it was just keeping me in a space where I couldn't see clearly. And I was really tormented. And yeah, that definitely was a thing.

I also ended my relationship, or I tried to end my relationship with that guy at the time. I was coming to this place where I was like, I can't continue to have sex with you. I was feeling conviction all over the place. So God was turning up the heat in my heart.

Yeah. I told him I couldn't continue to have sex with him anymore that I just knew that wasn't what God wanted for me. And, he was like, I can't be with you anymore. And I was like then you don't love me. And that's a whole nother story of shame and stuff like that and

[00:28:00] eventually, we ended up getting engaged and back together. Which again is a whole nother story that we don't have time for. But all of those pieces again, when I say it was a journey, I got engaged to this guy and we were pursuing marriage but then I was prepping for a bodybuilding show, going into our marriage and bulimic and it was just chaos.

Yeah. And I was all over the place and miserable. And finally the culmination of it was the morning of my wedding to this man. I got a call from a beloved friend of ours who I didn't know really at the time. Who's been like, very much a father figure to us, Lenee’ and carries the heart of the father God in a lot of ways.

And he calls me the morning of our wedding, and when I tell him that I'm gonna get married to Matt that day, he's he immediately just is don't do it. He's exhorting me. He won't be the spiritual leader that you want him to be. Don't think about the wedding, don't think about all these things.  He just 

[00:29:00] really started to share the father God's heart to me in that moment. And I remember getting off the phone with him and just thinking it's too late. I'm already committed, we're getting married, I can't get out now and I'm just gonna have a crappy life. But long story short, in the process of getting ready for us to get married and stuff like that day I did end up calling it off and it was like, I mentioned earlier I wanted a savior from God, but I didn't want a Lord. And there was a shift that happened when I called off that wedding that rippled into then my relationship with food, bodybuilding, body image, all these different things. So when I called off that wedding and I said, I'm not gonna live in compromise anymore.

I'm not gonna have sex with this man. I'm not gonna marry him. I'm not going down this path anymore. And I just want Jesus. So I call off this wedding, I break up with him. Lenee’, listen, I was literally a bodybuilder, a bartender, and a Hooters girl, 

[00:30:00] sitting in church on Sunday with my hands lifted, totally a double life, right?  So I literally Lenee’, I call off that wedding, I quit those jobs, and I just run to the arms of Jesus. And I'm like, I cannot live this double life anymore. I cannot live in this compromise anymore. And He literally broke the chains of off of me in my repentance. Come on. And so that was the shift into moving towards God as my Lord and the lover of my soul.  Not just the savior who I wanted to clean up my mess. 

Leneé Pezzano: Yes. Wow. what are some of the first things you experienced when you did that? How did life shift for you? 

Robyn Wright: Yeah it was a little chaotic there at first. 'cause you could imagine calling off a wedding and you're going in one direction, like repentance, right?  We're going in one direction and we turn around and we're going in a different direction towards the Lord. And so that came with just 

[00:31:00] refining and fire. I'll say when I say God broke the chains of bulimia off of me, that was instantaneous. That was supernatural and that almost never happens with bulimia. There's a very low success rate for recovery in bulimia. So one day I'm binging and purging, and the next day the desire's completely gone, right? So that was a big change. Yeah. But it was like. God met me and just blessed my obedience and blessed my faith and gave me so much internal courage to continue moving towards him and away from the lifestyle that was keeping me in bondage.

So that was the biggest shift is that he really captivated my heart on the heels of calling off that wedding and gave me so much internal courage that yes, this is the direction I want you to go. I love you. I think that was a huge revelation to me is that God loved me and I think that was what gave me the courage to walk away from those things that I had identified with, 

[00:32:00] and he began to just woo my heart.

And now he wasn't just Father God and Savior, but Lover of my soul. Yeah. Yeah. And I have a whole, journey and story about, growing in that space. But I think that's really what gave me the courage to, to press on. 

Leneé Pezzano: And so then I know you as the one who owns Faithfully Living Fit, which I think is just the most beautiful title.

And so fast forward a little bit to where you still honor health and stewardship of health, which is super important for Christians. But you've broken away from the strongholds. And so what does it look like now to faithfully live fit with Jesus? 

Robyn Wright: Yeah. that was a journey for sure. The bulimia was broken off instantaneously. That was supernatural. But God then took me on a journey of redeeming my relationship with 

[00:33:00] food. reforming my identity. And that took time and I didn't have a framework for that. That was a discovery. And God gave me a framework that then I eventually used with my clients to usher them to a redeemed relationship with food and restored identity and stuff like that.

At first, the pendulum swings, right? And so at first and I'm, I bend more towards zeal in my nature. So wisdom is something I'm growing in and have grown in a lot over the years. Same, twinning. At first there was like a, okay, I stepped away from bodybuilding and then I really moved into this space of really leaning towards pure food.  And that kind of became an idol that it was very much about the purity of food. I still had disordered eating tendencies and thought processes. And then I one of the things that really helped me, 'cause I think sometimes we can camp out in the spiritual and lose sight of some of the natural things that God uses to 

[00:34:00] bring healing.

And for me, when I got certified through Precision Nutrition and I started to get educated God started to really help me lean into things like intuitive eating. And it wasn't so much about the purity of my food and 'cause a lot of that was still in this black and white.

Good, bad. There was still a lot of disordered eating language around food. Yeah, food still was a master in my life and it wasn't just a good gift that God had given me to enjoy freely. So I definitely went on a journey of learning and growing and changing and, my pendulum's swinging in different directions but when I got certified through Precision Nutrition and I started to untangle some of the web of disordered eating, no longer did I have an eating disorder? But I still had disordered eating tendencies from diet culture.

Yeah. And eventually Lenee’, I had to break up with the pursuit of thinness. I had to renounce this like this deep-seated desire to be thin and untangle those lies around. If I was 

[00:35:00] thin, then I would be happy. If I was thin, then I would be beautiful. and renounce and repent of this idolatry towards, yeah.

Being thin which meant for me gaining weight and yeah. Allowing myself, allowing my body to do what it needed to do to yeah. Move towards healing. Yeah. And to regulate. Yeah. Yeah. So there was definitely a process and a journey there of I take a lot of my clients through what's called a body blessing and a body repentance and rededicating our bodies to the Lord and like going through each body part and re repenting of the ways that we used it in unrighteous ways and unholy ways, whether that's just our lips for speaking curses over.

I hate this, I hate that. And rededicating our. Our bodies to be instruments of righteousness. Yeah. And, but the, but before we even go there, what I did with my clients and do with my clients is an identity 

[00:36:00] reformation. And God gave me that through my own journey. I didn't necessarily have a tool for that.  He just took me on an identity reformation of digging up lies and renouncing the lies that I believed about myself and about him and about food and untangling all that. Digging it up and repenting and renouncing it and then putting on the truth of His word about who I was and where my worth came from.

And, our behavior's really a product of our belief. And there was reformation that had to happen around my identity and my belief and then moving into that rededicating my body to be the Lord's Yeah. Yeah. 

Leneé Pezzano: I can so relate. 'cause like I shared with you before today, I'm just beginning that process of realizing what an idol all of this has been in my life and the fear behind it. And again, performance, religious spirit that drove so much of it. Things based in shame and fear and pride and rejection. 

[00:37:00] It's just all wrapped up in that, right? And so I've just begun to ask the Lord to take me through the journey of true healing. Like I've had seasons of success 'cause I can be super disciplined as a perfectionist and a zealot we can be zealous in pursuit of something and super uber disciplined and get great results, but never really be able to maintain them. And then also just knowing that you're not really walking in freedom.

And I wanna take all the things I've learned, like the foods that are healthy to eat that are anti-inflammatory. There's tools God's given us and knowledge and I wanna steward that well. And I tend to still live in that I'm better with structure because I am so gluttonous by nature and I am so zealous I can just run and keep running with something. So putting a little bit of boundary around, how much I eat or tracking, it just helps me stay free. In a way. But I wanna even be free of that. I wanna be 

[00:38:00] intuitive. I wanna be to the place where food doesn't have power over me.

And one of the things I've been doing lately is even just switching and telling my brain, oh no, I can do this. I can, and I'm writing and I'm journaling, and I'm starting to little by little find ways to renew my mind and be truly transformed. Because I grew up in a home where food was our choice of medication and, but I can feel that fear begin to rise up when I start letting go of the structure, when I start letting go of the diet culture, when I start letting go of some of those belief systems that I've had that have sustained me, but also not been healthy. talk to us about what are some practical steps we can take to really help us shift and begin to be renewed.

You've already named a couple, which I'm gonna go back now and be like, okay, I need to do that. But what else can you, what

[00:39:00] advice can you give us? 

Robyn Wright: Yeah. I think you mentioned such a really important piece of it is believing that you do have self-control. Is a huge thing, right? Because yeah.

Scripture says God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. And so that's a part of that identity piece of no food is not my master. Yeah. And putting food back in its proper place is a good gift given from a good God who wants us to enjoy it freely. But freedom is not on either end of the spectrum of license or law.

And that's where I see people often living, is back and forth between the diet culture of law or the gluttonous culture of eat, drink, and be merry. And what I've come to discover is that there's a time to feast and there's a time to fast. Okay. Yeah. And so first identifying with I have a spirit of self-control because God lives in 

[00:40:00] me and this is my story and this is what I share with other people. Everybody's gonna have different bends. And everybody's gonna have different foods that might be trigger foods. Intuitive eating is where I found a lot of freedom.

But for other people, they need frameworks that are a little bit more, they just need something differently. Yeah. But what I found with the women that I coach have to step away from diet, culture of law. And good food, bad food. Whole food. Like real food, some of that language.

There is a putting that to the side for a season and a period and really doing this deep internal work. And and restoring connection with their body, their spirit, their soul, and identifying with that freedom, because the moment we bring in laws, again, it feels like it's a false sense of control.

Yeah. But there are some people who are gonna listen to this and say, you know what? I just know myself and I needed to count my macros. 

[00:41:00] Or I feel like having lists of foods to not eat and to eat in the beginning, beginning of my journey, I could not put law in there because it would trigger me into binging or, yeah false securities. Yeah. For some law brings order, which then brings a sense of freedom. And for others it's a complete opposite. So yeah. You definitely have to know thyself. Yes, for sure. For sure. And some of those things that helped me was thinking more on a continuum or a spectrum of more nourishing foods and less nourishing foods.

That's good. So rather than good, bad, black, white on, off, cheating dieting, like some of that black and white language that I think bends more towards license and law. I started to look at food on a spectrum of more nourishing and less nourishing. And depending on the season or my readiness, my willingness, my ability, I might choose something that was more nourishing.

And then life hits. And sometimes you have to move down the spectrum

[00:42:00] for a meal. Yeah. Really, we know that there are five things that whether you're in the camp of a vegetarian or a carnivore or a vegan. Or whatever camp that you live in with your nutrition kind of philosophies.

There are five things that those people are all doing that will build a deep health. And that's eating minimally processed foods the majority of the time. Like you said, liberty isn't throwing away wisdom. Okay. Yeah. And I think sometimes on the intuitive eating journey, people will just wanna be like, oh, I can eat whatever I want.

Yeah, you can, but that's not always for them either. So there are boundaries that God set up the world in a way. And so wisdom is, yeah. 

Leneé Pezzano: He says there's scripture that talks about it might be permissible but not beneficial. Yes. 

Robyn Wright: Wisdom and I'll not be mastered by anything. That's a key scripture that I share with my clients is that all things are 

[00:43:00] lawful for me, right?  We're free, we're not under the law, but not all things are profitable, and I will not be mastered by anything. So when food still has mastery over you, again, that's some work we need to do but we know that we feel our best and perform our best when we live our best when we're eating minimally processed foods the majority of the time, and the right quantity and quality for you, right?

Lenee’, you are gonna need a different quality and quantity than I need, and I have to be loving enough to give myself the things that I need. Even if somebody else, a diet influencer or somebody else says that. They wanna tack on their laws, right? Yeah. Hydration is key. We're not gonna feel good in our spirit.

Solar body if we're dehydrated. God created our bodies to need good quality water, right? Yeah. And he also created them to move regular on a daily basis in ways that feel good and we enjoy. So for some of you out there, ladies, that's Zumba girl. You dance your little heart out and you enjoy Zumba.  For other people 

[00:44:00] like me, I love lifting weights, right? And so we need to be moving our bodies regularly, daily. We also need to be, and this is an often overlooked piece that I actually start with most of my clients, is managing their stress. And that's an internal stress of what's going on from their traumas and their past and their unprocessed emotions, their own beliefs and their external stresses, like relational boundaries and like their systems and processes in their homes, right?

So managing our stress. You can be eating the healthiest foods and not be getting the benefit from them because your stress load is too high. That's right. So that is essential. That's part of faithfully living fit is managing stress and prioritizing sleep because God gave us sleep as a gift and it's when we heal and it's when our brains process things and it's when we dream and so we have to prioritize sleep.

Yeah. And so those are the five things in the natural that you can 

[00:45:00] take these to the bank. Anybody who you're looking at that has a healthy life are building their life around those five foundational things. Yeah. And those are hard to call at once. Yeah. So you may take a season where you just really lean into the managing the stress or you may like that's doing good and you're like, man, I just need to like up my protein.

So you don't wanna go after all those at one time. It's a journey. And that's where when we renounce the inappropriate pursuit of thinness and we start to look at faithfully just living fit for God's kingdom and for His purposes, because we know who we are and we know what he's called us to do, and we start to create a lifestyle to position us to do that well, then we can take the time to be curious and compassionate imperfectly, progressively pursue those things.

Leneé Pezzano: Yeah, it's so good. pausing is a 

[00:46:00] big it's simple, but it's so hard too. But I've been really being intentional about pausing and just saying, okay. Am I reaching for food right now because I'm actually hungry, or am I bored or am I stressed and sad?

Yeah. And then what am I reaching for Now, obviously for me, I tend to be an all or none, and I just do better if I keep all the unhealthy stuff out of the fridge. Right now, I'm still under law in a lot of ways in the beginning of this journey, but it's like my fridge is full of healthy stuff.

Yeah. Why am I going after it and then what am I going after? And then how much? Because I can see how my personality through my life has been so gluttonous. I just have the capacity for more. And I think wisdom is knowing that you have the capacity and you don't always have to live to the fullness of that capacity.

You can go 80% and really pause and say, am I satiated? First of all, am I eating slow enough? And 

[00:47:00] I actually give my body time, but am I satiated? And now I've been real curious. I think that part about getting curious too is key. Because now I'm starting to go, why? When I'm satiated, why am I afraid to put the food down?

Why am I afraid to say no? What's driving that? did I grow up in a, in an environment of poverty and like I work with a gal and there's definitely a poverty spirit.  She'll hoard food because she's afraid she won't have it. For me, I think I'm getting some revelation around if I don't have it, I'll be rejected. I'll be left out somehow. It's the weirdest connection. But I can again, if you look at some of our behaviors as a way to control if I had a ton of rejection in my life and felt left out in many ways I can control the food I'm putting in.

And so as long as I have access to that food, I'm not being left out. 

[00:48:00] It's the weirdest connection, but it's starting to be a revelation in my life. 

Robyn Wright: Yeah. That is so good. And those are such key pieces of growing and intuitive eating, slowing down is literally the door to breakthrough.

It is awareness. we have to slow down to create these connections. And a diet does not provide that for you. And so when we slow down and we just start to get present with the Holy Spirit who lives in our physical body, come on now, right? Yep. Then he will open up the door of revelation and it provides so much clarity and then a powerful position of self-control.

So slowing down and eating to 80% full, looking at that scarcity mindset and that poverty spirit in the face. Yeah. And saying no. I know you feel that way. Little Lenee’, little Robyn. Yeah. I know you're scared. I know you, you're grieving 

[00:49:00] actually. Yeah. I know you're sad and that you're feeling like you're gonna miss out on comfort or joy or peace.

Yes. Safety. Yeah. But it's okay. I'm gonna take care of you now. Yeah. Yeah. Jesus is gonna take care of us. And we start to minister to that little one inside of us who has used food as a coping mechanism. Yeah. And we start to move with love because if we go on a diet and if we start restricting all that does is create more chaos, more fear, more scarcity.

And it works counterintuitive to Yeah. What we're really leading forward is so that we can then fast and feast in freedom. Yeah. Where fear is no longer the motivating factor, right? Yeah. So I love what you're leaning into, and it's so key for you to step into greater levels of freedom.

Leneé Pezzano: It is. I can feel it. I can feel the shift. 

[00:50:00] My will I'm beginning to give myself permission, right? To feel the feels, to acknowledge, to go get curious with the Lord and to see if those connections can be made, like you said and then to be able to say, oh, little Lenee’, to love myself in that moment and to be like, you're not gonna be left out, it's gonna be okay. And yeah, there's been a real, and I know it's all from rejection and feelings of low self-worth. And that's what we do. It drives us to something that makes us feel like we have some sense of value.

And it's also been linked to, relationships with men and some of we single folks out there, if we're still single, it can be scary because there's some misbelief that says, again, I'm only loved if I look a certain way or if I am a certain way and I have to be able to look in the mirror and say, I'm 

[00:51:00] more than what I see in the mirror, it's okay to give myself permission. I don't have to have that piece of cake or even just the extra protein. I can eat a ton of healthy food, but eat too much of it. Yeah. Because again, I'm still feeding something. That's bleeding inside of me. That's a toxic belief system.

And, we don't always have to pay thousands to go to a counselor. We may not have money to go to a coach, but the word says, we have the Anointing in us that no man needs to teach us in 1 John. And so if I do pause, if I pause, if I get curious, if I get alone with the Lord and I begin to practice getting into His presence and asking those questions he will start connecting the dots and, yeah.

And, we do, we have to engage our will. We have to practice, like I have to practice, this is exercise. It's a renewing of the mind that doesn't just, you don't flip a switch. It's a journey. And it's a process. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. And you had even

[00:52:00] mentioned, like for you, it helped not to have certain foods around you.

Robyn Wright: There are practical tools. Like I, there's an acronym that I teach people in that process of slowing down, it's the H.A.L.T. method. So H- am I hungry, H for hungry? and most likely you probably are hungry, but it might not be physical hunger, right? Yeah. So you try to like withhold whatever nutrient, whether that's the word of God or the presence of God, or intimate community or physical food. When we halt and we ask, am I hungry? And if I am hungry, is this physical, emotional, or spiritual good? That would be helpful. A is for am I anxious or angry? If I'm anxious or angry, food is not gonna solve that problem.

Okay? Yeah. L am I lonely? Food is not gonna solve that problem. T. Am I tired? Food is not gonna solve that problem. So the most loving thing that we can do when we halt and check in with our spirit, soul, and 

[00:53:00] body, and ask what do I need? Because unmet needs feel like insatiable hunger. Yeah.

Leneé Pezzano: Ugh. So good. So that's so good. We, there are some practical tools to position us to hear correctly, right? 

Robyn Wright: Yeah. the founder of precision Nutrition says if the food around you is one of your red light foods, whatever, whether you have green light, yellow light, or red light foods around you, it's gonna be eaten.

Whatever's around you and easiest to get to is what you're going to eat. Yeah. If you don't wanna eat that, then make it harder for you to get to it. That's just wisdom, right? Yeah. so there are these tools you bring in that are both spiritual and practical, that can Yeah. Move you towards this freedom.

Leneé Pezzano: Yeah. I love that. I love that. And I feel like God is taking so many of us deeper in this season. Like we, we've got some of the language, we call it the Christianese that we speak so well, but. He's having to go 

[00:54:00] back and reestablish certain foundational things because I don't know that as a body of believers, we spend the time to go deep into some of this stuff and really translate it to the practical.  It's like you're supposed to just dive into your walk with Jesus and understand this all. And it's amazing that God is, I think he's rewiring, he's reframing, he's restoring. And that's what He's in the business of doing. 

One of the topics that, I intend to talk a lot about on the Redeemed Perfectionist is the true meaning of God's grace.

And so I guess what role does Grace play in your health and wellness today? 

Robyn Wright: Yeah, I love that question. I think oftentimes we think of grace as not getting what we deserve, right? Yeah. It's oh gosh, I am a sinner and I'm not going to hell. And that's grace. But I love, I've been reading this summer, I really wanted to slow down and and I picked up this book that I had read 

[00:55:00] quickly and the season fast.  It's by Graham Cooke. It's called The Nature of Freedom. And when I think about Grace, that book pops back up into my mind. And Graham Cooke says he says, grace is my -- meaning God's --empowering presence within you that enables you to become the person that I see when I look at you. I'm gonna read it one more time.

Grace is My empowering presence within you that enables you to become the person that I see when I look at you. So really for me, grace is again about identity, right? Yeah. As I get more revelation around who I am in Christ, it empowers me to live the way that aligns with the purposes and plans that he has for me.

Yeah. So grace is all that I'm doing now is about love rather than perfection. Yeah. It's about rest rather than performance. Yeah. Yeah. 

Leneé Pezzano: [00:56:00] To me it's I would've a hundred percent agree with that definition. I always picture if I'm relaxed, lying back as if I'm giving blood that kind of posture.

But I have an IV in my arm and it's this power. It's His presence kind of being injected into me if I choose to receive it. And then it allows for me to do the things I couldn't otherwise do for myself. So back to that original thought of most people just think of it as, He made a way for me not to go to hell.

Okay. So He did for you what you couldn't do for you in terms of covering your sin, but then it's an ongoing Source of doing for you what you can't do for yourself. That's why He says approach the throne of grace with confidence in your time of need 'cause He knows that you can't do it in your own ability and strength.

I love that so much. if you could go back and talk to your younger self at the peak of your bodybuilding career, what would you say? 

Robyn Wright: That's a loaded question right 

[00:57:00] there, Lenee’, that's a podcast in itself, right? Yeah. Going back to our younger self and what you would say, because chances are she wouldn't listen.  Honestly, your worth is more than what you weigh. Yeah. And I think the thing that shifted me the most was when I heard the Father's voice over me of love, to be able to tell her that you are more than what you weigh. Yeah. How lean you are, how many trophies you win for what you eat.

Yeah. And just affirm that your worth is because you were created in the image of God. You're chosen by God. Just like to speak that loving Father's voice of identity. I would love to be able to. I tell her that her I tell her that actually. 

Leneé Pezzano: Yeah, I told her that. Yeah. And I'm starting to write letters to myself. There's the mirror exercise, which is super hard for many people, and very 

[00:58:00] telling as to whether shame still is a major issue. But if you look in the mirror and you look into your eyes and you begin to minister to yourself and speak to yourself in loving ways and in kind ways, and man, that's just super hard.

And I do feel that pendulum of, going between the two, I can some days do that really well and then other days I'm like, nope, can't do it today. But just honoring, acknowledging that and running to the Lord and just saying, keep teaching me. Keep teaching me and help me deny and renounce.

'Cause we feed the lies and that's not honoring God. We're honoring the lie and that's honoring the enemy. So when we look in the mirror and we criticize, like I could tell you which body parts, I'm more quick to criticize and critique myself than point out what I like about how I'm designed.

And right there, I've got renounce and stop feeding that part of, that sinful nature that's in us. I heard the other day this was pretty 

[00:59:00] powerful, but there's one thing we have that Satan never had, and that's a body. So it's very interesting that he attacks that so hard. Yeah. Because it's the one thing he never had, and we've gotta be able to take that back and take back that land.

Amen. So are there any scriptures that anchor you or anchored you during your healing journey, would you say? 

Robyn Wright: You know what's funny is I have Philippians 4:13 tattooed on my arm. I got it while I was in the midst of bodybuilding.

And I have God's strength tattooed right on my forearm. Yeah. And Philippians 4:13 says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Yeah. And so here I am, I'm getting three quarters of the way naked up on stage, and I'm saying I can win bodybuilding shows through God who strengthens me.

What's cool is that God's really given me new perspective around what that scripture really means. Paul wasn't talking about His glory, it wasn't 

[01:00:00] His resume of wonderful things. Yeah. When he's talking about that scripture, he's actually talking about being content and going without and weakness.

Yeah. And I started on this journey to embrace weakness and limits. we quoted all the time, that when I am weak, he is strong. But let's be honest, if you're a perfectionist, you are not depending on the Lord's strength you are. That's right.

Putting yourself in that position of if I can be perfect, then I can be strong and nobody can hurt me. And God's just really purified the meaning of that scripture of being able to do all things through Christ. And that's really been helpful for me to just lean into him and lean on him.

It's not about my performance, it's not about my perfection. But it's truly about His love. Yeah. Carrying me through this journey from glory to glory. I love it so much. 

Leneé Pezzano: What's a go-to meal or 

[01:01:00] treat that you once felt guilty about but now enjoy with freedom? Oh my husband and I, every Friday night we, we pop this giant bowl of popcorn Lenee’.  I'm not talking about a little cereal bowl. I'm talking like, come on. Big popcorn bowl. And we split it and we each get our bowl of stove popped popcorn. And I pour grass fed butter all over that. And that's my dinner. And we sit down and we watch a movie every Friday night and I just eat that popcorn for my dinner and I love it.

And then guess what? We do it again on Sunday night with the kids. So we are so twins, girl popcorn. Yes. give me my own big bowl. My kids will come to my popcorn bowl on Friday night. 'cause they'll come out of their room and they'll be like no, go your dad. I don't share popcorn.

Leneé Pezzano: I'll share pizza, I'll share my ice cream, both of which I also enjoy. But man, give me my own popcorn bowl. I love it. 

[01:02:00] I love it so much. One word to describe your life with Christ now. 
 
 

Robyn Wright: it's free. It's free. Free. Free. And so full of joy. Yes. Freedom and joy. Yeah. 

Leneé Pezzano: I hope the listeners really heard the suffering and then the breakthrough and the freedom and just some practical takeaways this is a rich episode. And I think right now, Robyn, in your life, your primary ministry is being a wife and mom. You're less of a nutrition coach right now, but people can still find you right on, social media. What are some links or ways that you would have women connect with you?

Robyn Wright: Yeah. I am on Facebook. I deactivated my Instagram a couple of years ago. I really felt like the Lord was saying lay Faithfully Living Fit on the altar and what reemerges is gonna look very different. I felt like the Lord told me, don't market anymore. I'm gonna 

[01:03:00] Divinely connect you with people that I want you to serve.

Yeah. And so I'm not marketing and I have a personal Facebook page. You're welcome to find me there. And I prayerfully consider people who reach out to me. I'm not for everybody, and I don't say yes to everyone, but there are specific people that I'm currently working with clients right now, both online and in person, but it's very much Divine alignment.

And so I prayerfully consider those things and if it makes sense for both of us and it feels like an ordained thing, then we move forward. So you can always reach me on Facebook Messenger, or you can email me at FaithfullyLivingFit@gmail.com and you can probably link that in the bottom.

Leneé Pezzano: Yeah, I'll definitely put the links to your Facebook page and your email in the show notes. And I so appreciate you being here and speaking life and would love for you to maybe bless and pray over our listeners before we close, if you'd be so willing. 

Robyn Wright: Yeah, I'd love to. I'd love to. Thank you so much, Lenee’.

[01:04:00] Yeah. Lord, we just, we come before you as your daughters. And your sons that might be listening, God and oh Lord, what a joy it is to be called yours. Oh, my heart just fills with so much gratitude and that we can just say that I am your beloved daughter in whom you are well pleased. And Lord, so I speak that over every ear that hears this podcast, that you are my beloved son and daughter and whom I am well pleased.

And it has nothing to do with how much you weigh or what you look like or what you've accomplished. I love you because you are mine. Amen. Lord, I just pray that you would come and that you administer to these hearts. God, I pray that you would restore hope for freedom. God, that freedom is a part of our Divine 

[01:05:00] destiny and our inheritance as your sons and your daughters God.

And when you touch the hearts of your children, freedom comes. And so I just pray that you would supernaturally God just open up a door to freedom that these people have never seen before. God restore hope. God, I just bind hopelessness right now in Jesus' name. Amen. And I just speak hope and deliverance and renewed strength for the journey.

God. Amen. Amen. I pray, Father, that you would break off, Lord, just the lies of unbelief, the lies of the spirit of this age and the diet culture that just has succumbeded to this is the way it's always gonna be. I just say no. No, this is not the way that it is always gonna be. This is not how it has to be.

Amen. I just pray, God, that your truth would come in like a flood 

[01:06:00] and that it would lead your children on the path towards breakthrough. God, I just pray that you would come to those hearts, Father, that that have been so bound by perfectionism. God, yes. Because of fear. God, because of rejection, God, because of shame.

And I just pray that you would bring belief to those unbelieving places of your believer's hearts, God, that your truth would penetrate those places that are hidden behind doors that maybe nobody even knows about. Maybe they don't even know about God, and like the gentleman that you are, like the good father that you are, that you would come and that you would unlock those doors.

Beckon them and draw them out into God, those pastures of freedom and deliverance God. Amen. Praying that you would cover shame, that you

[01:07:00] would deliver from pride.  Thank you Jesus, and that you would call your children by name and say come away with me, and I will show you the path to freedom. Amen. In me. I will carry you through the path of freedom. I will heal you. I will cover your shame. I will download revelations to you and secrets from my heart. I just thank you so much that you are faithful to finish the work that you have begun in us, Lord.

Amen. We love you so much. Amen and amen. 

[Music]

Leneé Pezzano: As I was going back and reflecting on this episode and getting it ready to publish, there was a scripture that came to mind, 2 Peter 1 and there's a principle in this particular passage of scripture that I really want to emphasize that I think really applies 

[01:08:00] to what we've talked about today.

I am going to talk through this passage of scripture, going back and forth between Versions to try to punctuate what I really wanna say here, it's Peter talking to Christians and he's talking about the fact that we've received a precious faith, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

It says, for His divine power has bestowed on us absolutely everything necessary for a dynamic spiritual life and godliness. Through true and personal knowledge of him who called us by His own glory and excellence for by these, he has bestowed on us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may escape from the immoral freedom that's in the world because of lust and.

You might become shares of the Divine nature. So think about that. We've been given everything necessary to live a 

[01:09:00] life of godliness through our personal knowledge of Him, and we get to share in His divine nature. And then it says, for this very reason, applying diligence to the divine promises. So make every effort in exercising your faith to develop moral excellence and in moral excellence knowledge, and in your knowledge self-control, and in your self-control steadfastness and in your steadfastness godliness. And it goes on and on and it says, for as these qualities are yours and are increasing in you as you grow towards spiritual maturity, they will keep you from being useless and unproductive in regard to the true knowledge and greater understanding of our Lord Jesus. It says that believers be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you. So be sure that your behavior reflects and confirms your relationship with God for by doing these 

[01:10:00] things you will never stumble.

And here's what stands out to me. There's that point when Robyn and I were talking about that this is a journey, right? You can't attack it necessarily all at once. But as long as you are working toward life and being diligent about that next thing in front of you, as long as you're taking steps in the right direction and applying diligence toward the promises that God has said are ours in Him, then you are maturing and you will be kept from being useless and unproductive, and I know that's your heart.

I encourage you to go back and reflect upon today's episode and highlight those things that really spoke to you, really resonated with you, and begin to make your calling an election sure. By starting with those things and knowing that God is going to be with you every step of the 

[01:11:00] way, and as you take those steps of faith, you're building your bold and He will restore you. And get ready for our next episode, which will be part two of our time with Robin, where we're gonna take an even deeper dive into the practical steps you can take to start your journey of freedom.

Praying for you today, sister, I'm so glad you're a part of this community.

Remember to head on over to our Facebook community, the Redeemed Perfectionist, where we lock arms with other women who struggle with similar things, and we encourage one another onto freedom. And maybe you know, one other person who really needs to hear a message like this so be sure to share this episode as well.

We have so many more encouraging conversations coming up, so be sure to subscribe and tune in next time.

And remember, Sis, you are loved, you are chosen, and you don't have to be perfect to be redeemed.