Elephant in the Room — The Threat of Sin - Friday
Today’s Verse
2 Corinthians 12:9
But he [Jesus] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (ESV)
In one of the more unique stories from Jesus’ earthly ministry found in Mark 5, Jesus delivered a man from many demons and ended up sending the demons into a herd of pigs. After the man was fully restored, he begged Jesus to allow him to stay in His company (I would too). This was Jesus’ response, “...Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mark 5:19).
Just to be clear, in order to fully share with someone the extent to which we’ve been shown mercy, we must disclose the extent to which we deserved judgment. In the language of Paul, we will need to “boast in our weaknesses.” It may seem counterintuitive, but here’s the truth: Our weaknesses are our witness.
Rest in the reality that the world doesn’t need to see your perfection in order to see Jesus; they actually need to see the opposite. Our witness is at its strongest when we can honestly and humbly present to those around us the ways God is graciously redeeming our shortcomings. And oddly enough, the very act of openly sharing how God is working through our weaknesses can be one of the greatest ways to take ammunition away from our adversary (Revelation 12:11).
APPLICATION
Today’s application is simple: tell someone how God has and is continuing to work through your weaknesses.
And to lead by example, I’d like to boast to you about some of my own:
Because lust had a huge grip on my life through my adolescence and early twenties, I avoid movies or TV shows that could lead me into temptation and have accountability software across all my devices.
Because I struggle with greed and cyclically question God’s ability to provide my family with what we need, I’ve set automatic withdrawals in place for my tithe as well as financial support for friends serving in global missions.
Because I wrestle with impatience, anger, and ingratitude, I fight against my flesh’s propensity for instant gratification by abstaining from food one day a week.
Because I am prone to play the comparison game and become jealous of what God is doing in the lives of other people, I regularly force myself to pray for the spiritual blessing of others.
This is a short list, but in every weakness of my life, I have found God’s strength to be greater. In each of the things listed above, I have experienced unbelievable transformation from the inside out and continue to be amazed at how much God has in store for a broken human like myself. I pray you can say the same.
PRAYER
Father, thank you for using the most unlovable parts of our lives to be the greatest windows into your unmatched love.