Boasting in our Weaknesses
“Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
I can’t stand a bragger. I mean, come on… who likes a bragger? No one! Let’s face it. Arrogant, boastful people are hard to be around. We all know someone that likes to brag about their accomplishments.
But do we know anyone that boasts in their weaknesses as described in 2 Corinthians? I know I certainly have a hard time wanting to share my failures. Yet, it is in my weakness that Christ shines in me.
I will never forget my first summer at camp. (Sadly, it wasn’t at Greystone. Gasp!) I was the newbie camper. I was also the newbie tennis player. And I was pretty good. Don’t get me wrong… I wasn’t turning pro anytime soon. More like never. But I was decent.
The same girl had won the camp tennis tournament for four years straight. They were ready for some new blood to win that cup. And here I came… with new blood and lots of hope. I worked my way through the brackets and made it to the finals against the reigning champ. There was so much hype and emphasis on this match. And I was nervous. I mean, really nervous. And it showed. I will NEVER forget losing that match. And y’all, I didn’t just lose that match. I lost 6-0, 6-0. Otherwise known as a double bagel. It is the worst loss you can have!
Failing as an athlete is hard. I can attest to that! And failing in our lives is no different. It can either leave us with regret and shame or it can show us the truth about ourselves. The truth is that we are not perfect. We are weak. We can’t do it alone. We need Jesus!
Did you know that Jesus didn’t come for the perfect or the successful? He came for the weak… the hurting… those that need a Savior.
It is often harder to see our need for Jesus when we are succeeding, yet through our failures and our weaknesses, we cling more closely to Him. So next time you are defeated or feel like a major failure, boast in your weakness because when you are weak, He is STRONG!