“You can’t love your neighbor until you love yourself first, and that includes loving Me with everything inside of you.”

Hi! My name is Taja Johnson. Thank you for the time you are taking to check out my page. I want to first share my heart behind Lift & Be Lifted. This name came about during a season when the Lord placed a desire on my heart to inspire others in fitness through faith in 2017. I had fallen in love with fitness after running multiple half marathons and soon after being introduced to a new sport called Crossfit. After a while I began coaching Crossfit and realized a fire lit inside of me. A fire that ignited as I was instructing the classes to push people to excel further than their minds were allowing them to go during their workouts. I later competed in two bodybuilding competitions, placing in both and qualifying for Nationals. Fitness and building strength physically and mentally became a huge part of my life. I wanted to help others reach their goals, but I knew that was only temporary satisfaction. I want people to fall in love with Jesus even more. So I saw two visions in front of me for Lift & Be Lifted. The first, a vision of lifting others up by inspiring, speaking truth, a true camaraderie, which you in turn would also be lifted up from the support built around you. Having a community where everyone is there to push you and lift you is amazing. Seeing others reach their potential is extra motivation for me, but the dilemma...where does Jesus come in? I was stuck....for 3 years!! Drum roll. Then comes the Holy Spirit with the clutch. The second, a vision of lifting up Jesus in all that you do and HE will lift you up. That sounds so comforting. I love the idea of being supported by others around me, and it's important in community, but what can and will stick forever is being grounded and lifted by the only person that can truly pick you up when you're down. The only person that can fill any and every void. The only person that loves you every second of every day because He created you.

Let me mention that this vision didn't come to me until the night leading into my birthday in 2020. The year of perfect vision. :) That night, I was driving home to Florida from visiting my family and friends in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and the voice of the Lord in my car was so clear. He said, "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself." He was speaking the Great Commandment found in Matthew 22:36-39. He then said, "You can't love your neighbor until you love yourself first and that includes loving Me with everything inside of you." Usually when I read that scripture I'm like yeah yeah yeah, I know. I've heard it a million times, love God and love your neighbor as yourself. This time it shook me to my core! I had a new revelation of what loving your neighbor as yourself actually meant. Listen to what He said to me next, "You think you're loving your neighbor as yourself, but until you see yourself fully the way that I see you, you are seeing them through your lens which is broken. You're judging them the way that you are judging yourself and that's not love." Ouch. Yep. Imagine the emotion I felt on that drive home on my birthday eve. I'm so thankful He spoke that to me, because He then took me on a journey of loving Him with every part of my being, including my body. A journey that He is still refining. Lift & Be Lifted is where we live out the Great Commandment. Loving the Lord with our heart, soul and mind. Loving God first and loving ourselves by seeing ourselves the way that He sees us and taking care of this earthly vessel with love. From that place, we can truly and fully love our neighbor as ourself. This is a place where we as a community lift each other up by encouraging others to know who they are in Christ. Founded on God’s Word and truth that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Join us on our endeavor to love Jesus first and foremost and love our neighbors as ourselves!