The Gymnast Who Stepped Off the Mat

In July 2021, Simone Biles stood on the Olympic stage in Tokyo as the most decorated gymnast in history — and she walked away. Mid-competition, she withdrew from event after event, telling the world she had developed "the twisties," a terrifying condition where a gymnast loses all sense of where her body is in the air. At those heights and speeds, one miscalculation can be catastrophic.

The world split in two. Some called it weakness. Others called it the bravest thing they had ever seen an athlete do.

Three years later, Biles returned at the Paris Olympics. She did not just compete — she dominated, winning three gold medals and a silver. But what struck viewers most was not the medals. It was her face. She was smiling. She was free.

Biles had to stop performing for everyone else's expectations before she could compete out of her own joy.

Paul wrote to the Galatians, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). So many of us live under yokes we have mistaken for calling — the relentless need to prove ourselves, to perform, to earn approval we already have in Christ.

Sometimes the most courageous step toward freedom is not pushing harder. It is stepping back, releasing what enslaves you, and trusting that the God who made you will meet you when you return — lighter, freer, and finally ready to soar.