Mussings on Weakness

"I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may work through me" - II Corinthians 12:9 NLT

When was the last time you told someone about your weaknesses? I mean, truly told them your flaws, your vices, and wanted to tell them not because you wanted them to pity you, but so that you might me an example of growth and change. If you have done this, then kudos to you, because you have been able to overcome what many of us still struggle with. For the rest of us, it is still a daily battle.

In today's society, telling a stranger or even someone close to you about your flaws is like wanting to get hit by a car. Our society says we must always be perfect, to hide our weaknesses and try to be better then the person next to us. I am guilty of this just like the next person. As a people pleaser, I hide my unhappiness and depression so that I didn't appear weak. I spent so much time making other people happy that I didn't have the energy left to even take basic care of myself.

Then G-d lead me to this verse. He told me that these things that I had been hiding to try and make myself strong were really making me weaker then I already was. Instead G-d said to be happy about my weaknesses and share them because by sharing them with others, Christ could work through me, change me, and then change the person who had seen what Christ had done in my life. At first I thought I have so many weaknesses, how could anyone see me as a strong person or a role model for anyone because I thought a role model was someone who had his or her life all together and never had problems. But G-d has shown me otherwise. He wants me to be messy, and have problems because he is able to work his love and miracles through me as a witness to others.

But what if I really don't have big problems, you ask. Well I think you have a big one and it is called denial! Just because your life doesn't have any huge, earthshaking problems does not mean that you don't have weaknesses. We all have weaknesses, we are human and weakness is just part of that, but G-d says it is fine to have weaknesses. Once you realize that your life can become so full of passion and life. When you can accept your fault and give them to G-d to use, so many doors can open up. I'm not saying that your life will become smooth sailing, in fact it might even be harder for a while, but if you remember that Christ is working through you, then the struggles become easier to cope with.

Society says we must be strong, hide our problems. Well I would like to tell society to stick it! I have run in the marathon called society, several times in fact, and each time I have crashed and burn, never crossing the finish line. Why would I want to continue living my life like that? With the love of Christ, I know that I will ultimately cross the finish line, a place in his eternal kingdom, and my hope is that I can bring some people with me. Whether it is one person or a hundred, I have done what G-d calls us to do.

So the point is, weakness is good, if you allow Christ to work through you. If you do that, Christ will make you a stronger person, you will still have weaknesses, but you will have the greatest support system ever created.

"Yes, I am glad to be weak, or insulted, or mistreated, or to have troubles and sufferings, if it is for Christ. Because when I am weak, I am strong." - II Corinthians 12:10 CEV

Ok, so maybe you have been able to at least accept that you do have weaknesses. That is great; it is kind of like the first step in a twelve step program. You have been able to admit to something you have been denying. You might even feel that you are ready to tell the world about your weaknesses, you are willing to let G-d work through you for the good of others and yourself. But now you have hit a wall. That wall is called Society.

Last time I talked about how society views weakness. It says that weakness needs to be covered up at all costs. You must be better, stronger then the others around you. So naturally you are curious as to how your newly confessed weaknesses and willingness to share these weaknesses fit into the world in which we live. Can you truly go against