Before we talk about literally anything else, we need to start at the very beginning. Because you cannot steward something well if you despise the very thing you're trying to steward. So we start here. With an honest conversation. Just you and me.

Your body is not a problem. It's not the thing standing between you and your goals. It's definitely not a project to fix. It's not a burden to manage. Or a before photo that's just waiting to happen. It is a deliberate, intentional act of creation by a God who never makes mistakes.

I need you to read that again and let it actually set in.

Your body is not a problem. It is not the thing standing between you and your goals. It's not a project to fix. It's not a burden to manage. It's not a before photo waiting to happen. It is a deliberate, intentional act of creation by a God who never makes mistakes.

Now let's look at that verse for today. David didn't write I will be fearfully and wonderfully made. He didn't write I used to be, or I would be if I could just get it together. He wrote I am.

Present tense. Active. Declarative.

That means today. Right now. In this body. As is. Even before the weight loss, before the health streak, before you start seeing the progress you want to see, you ARE fearfully and wonderfully made. PERIOD.

That is not something you are working toward. That is just who you already are in Christ. And in Psalm 139, the word fearfully doesn't mean He was nervous. It doesn't mean He was questioning. It doesn't even mean He hesitated. It means with reverence and awe.

He made you the way an artist steps back from a canvas and admires what he's created. He wasn't rushing. He wasn't settling. He wasn't cutting corners. That is exactly how God uniquely crafted who you are. Your body included. Not excluded, included.

You've heard it before. Probably more times than you can count.

Your body is a temple.

And if you're honest, like really honest, those words have always felt kind of sweet. True, even. You've said them, nodded along, maybe written them in your journal or seen them on a coffee mug and said "Aww, I love that!" And then you went on with your day and nothing really changed.

Can I sit with you in that for a second?

Because I think that's actually the more dangerous place to be. Not rejecting the truth, but being so familiar with it that it stops landing. Words we say instead of something we truly, deeply live. A verse we quote instead of a conviction we walk out. And when truth becomes a bumper sticker, it loses its power to move us.

So let's read it again. But slower this time.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?

Paul opens with a question. And I don't think that's an accident. He's not assuming they know. He's literally asking. Do you actually know this? Like, do you really know it?

Because here's what I've noticed in myself, in the church, in the conversations I have with women constantly. If we truly had a deep, settled, unshakeable conviction that our bodies are the literal dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, things would look different.

We wouldn't have such a hard time finding time to move our bodies. We wouldn't let our schedules override the basics of caring for ourselves. Our excuses, as real and as valid as they sometimes feel, wouldn't so consistently win.

Can I just say something that I think you need to hear?

This is hard. Like, genuinely, actually hard. And it has been hard for a really long time. Not just for you, not just for women in this generation juggling a million things with no margin and no sleep and no one asking if they're okay. But hard in a way that goes all the way back to the beginning, if we really think about it. Because here's what we miss when we hand someone a meal plan and a workout program and just tell them to be consistent and they'll see results. We live in a broken world. And broken worlds produce resistance.

That's not an excuse. That's just the truth.

When sin entered the world in Genesis 3, it didn't just affect our hearts and our relationships and our eternal standing with God. It affected everything. The ground. The body. The effort it takes just to do the most basic things well. Thorns and thistles aren't just an agricultural problem, they're a picture of what it feels like to try to do anything good in a world that is groaning under the weight of the fall. You feel that, don't you?

You feel it in the days when you had every intention of moving your body and life just swallowed the plan whole. You feel it in the weeks where you were doing so well and then something happened and the whole thing unraveled. You feel it in the way it feels like you have to fight for something that should be simple, but it's not. And none of that is a character flaw. None of that is weakness. That is the very real friction of living in a world that is not yet fully restored.

Romans 8 says all of creation is groaning, waiting, longing, straining toward redemption. And so are we. We feel the tension between who God made us to be and the reality of living in bodies that get tired, in seasons that get hard, in a culture that works against almost everything we are trying to build.

We need to talk about the difference between two words that can look almost identical from the outside but feel completely different on the inside.

Stewardship. And performance.

From a distance, they can look like the same thing. Both of them get you to the gym. Both of them make you think twice about what you're putting on your plate. Both of them have you showing up and doing the work in every area of your life. But if there's one thing I know with every fiber of my being, it's that the thing that is driving you will always determine how far you go, how long you will last, and what it does to your soul and your heart and your mind along the way.

Performance says I have to earn this. I have to look a certain way. I have to hit the number, reach the goal, fit the clothes, and then finally, I'll be happy. Then it'll be enough. But performance is always chasing something just out of reach. And even on the days it wins, it doesn't actually feel like winning. Because the finish line just keeps moving. In other words, performance will always leave you with the feeling that it's not enough. That you are not enough. And it always will.

Stewardship, on the other hand, says something completely different. Stewardship says: I have been given something of value. Something that doesn't belong to me to do with as I please, but was entrusted to me to care for well. And my job isn't to make it perfect. My only job is to be faithful with it. Day in and day out.

Do you feel that difference?

We need to talk about three things God gave you as gifts and what the enemy has done with every single one of them.

Food. Movement. Rest.

These are not punishment. They are not the enemy. They are not a moral scorecard or a system of reward and deprivation. They are the very things God designed to fuel the life He called you to live. And isn't it just like the enemy to take something God meant for your good and twist it so completely that it cripples you instead.

Let's start with food. Because food is complicated, isn't it? It can mean so many things. For some of us it's comfort. For others it's control. Either you're overindulging or you're white-knuckling your way through restriction. The world has done an incredible job dividing food into good and bad, clean and dirty, allowed and forbidden, until eating a meal without guilt feels like an achievement.

But here's what I want you to remember. Food comes from the Lord. The very first thing an angel did when Elijah collapsed in the wilderness, exhausted, depleted, ready to give up, was touch him and say "get up and eat." Not get up and perform. Not get up and be more disciplined. Get up and eat. Because the journey ahead of you is too great for you to run on empty.

That is God's posture toward your body's need for fuel. Not shame. Provision.

Now let's talk about movement. God made your body to move. To walk, to breathe, to be strong, to carry, to lift, to dance. Movement is not a punishment for what you ate. It was never meant to be a have-to, it was always meant to be an I get to. There is a difference between dreading a workout and showing up anyway because you know this body was made to move and you want to steward that well. One is performance. The other is worship.

Can I ask you something?

When was the last time you looked in the mirror and thought "I really am beautiful." "I am enough." "I look really great today."

Not when I lose the weight. Not when I get consistent. Not when I finally look the way I've been trying to look for the last ten years. Not when I finally fit into the jeans that have been tucked away in my drawer for however many years.

Just, enough. Beautiful. Right now. Today. Just as you are.

For most of us, that moment is hard to come by. The world is really, really good at moving the finish line. There is always a newer standard, a smaller size, the newest trend with the quick fix that promises the result we've all been wanting, a tighter version of what you're supposed to look like. And it doesn't help that social media serves you an endless stream of women who seem to have it all together all the time, sending you into a comparison spiral, convincing you that you need better skin, more energy, a flatter stomach, a cleaner kitchen, a better home. Bigger, better, newer, fresher, tighter, all the things. And before you even realize what's happening, you've absorbed a standard that was never from the Lord and started measuring yourself against it like it was.

That is exactly what Romans 12 is warning us about. Do not conform to the pattern of this world. The pattern of this world says you're a project. You're a before photo. You're not quite there yet. You haven't made it. You need something different. You need more. The pattern of this world will take your God-given body, your God-given gifts, talents, dreams, and visions and tell you it's not enough. And then it'll sell you something to fix it. And worst of all, it'll make you miss the gratefulness of what you actually have today.

But here's what I want to sit with you in today.

We made it to Day 7. And I don't want to wrap this up with a bow and send you on your way. I want to sit here with you for just a minute because what we're about to talk about might be the most important thing we've covered all week.

You were created with intention and specificity. You are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. The struggle is real and ancient but it was never evidence that you were broken. You are not here to perform. You are here to steward. The food, the movement, the rest, they are gifts, not weapons. You are already enough. Already loved. Already delighted in.

So now what?

Here's where I think a lot of us get tripped up. We have a really powerful week. Something shifts. We feel it. We believe it. The momentum is there. And then Monday comes. And life comes with it. The feelings fade. And we're right back where we started seven days ago, wondering why we can't seem to hold on to that momentum.

But can I tell you something I've had to learn the really hard way?

Faithfulness was never supposed to feel like momentum, because faithfulness isn't a feeling. It's a decision.

And that decision is made quietly, repeatedly, consistently on the days when no one is watching, no one is clapping, nothing is clicking, and the results are nowhere in sight.

Galatians 6:9 says do not grow weary in doing good. Not do not grow weary when it's working. Not do not grow weary when you can see the harvest coming. Just, do not grow weary.

Keep going. Keep showing up. Keep being faithful with what is in your hands today. Because the thing about stewardship that the world will never tell you: the goal was never the result. The goal has always been, and will always be, obedience. The goal was always faithfulness. The outcome belongs to the Lord. What belongs to you is the showing up. Your responsibility is the yes.

Finishing this devotional matters. Not because you checked a box, but because you showed up. Seven days in a row, you chose to sit with truth over noise. That is faithfulness.

You are not the same woman who opened Day 1. Something shifted. Maybe it was small. Maybe it cracked something wide open. Either way, what God started in you this week, He is faithful to complete.

You were fearfully and wonderfully made. You are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. The struggle is real and ancient but it was never evidence that you were broken. You are not here to perform. You are here to steward. And you are already enough.

Now go live like it.

I would genuinely love to hear what God spoke to you this week. The thing that hit, the shift you felt, the truth that's going to stick. Come find me on Instagram @ashleighcoryell or send me an email. This is just the beginning of the conversation, and I want to keep having it with you.

And if you're ready to go deeper, the Well-Stewarded Woman community is waiting for you.