By J. Davis Creach
Knowing and proclaiming to the world that you are weak is not usually something to be proud of in the way that the apostle Paul is in the 12th chapter of 2 Corinthians. Here, Paul is boasting about his weaknesses and his trials, even the most humiliating ones, in order to highlight the strength of Christ.
How peculiar, isn’t it? We like to think of ourselves as strong and resilient people, capable of overcoming even the hardest trials and challenges with our heads held high. We like to think of the challenges we have overcome in life and the ways we have succeeded in our careers, our hobbies, and our social circles as testaments to who we are. We live in a world that believes in hiding emotional and physical vulnerability to demonstrate steadfast strength. We don’t like to show others that we are struggling, nor do we like to ask for help. If anything, we are more likely to complain about how difficult things are for us, wishing that things just weren’t so unfair.
This is the hold of the ego. It is our defense mechanism and most potent survival tool. I am sure that we will touch on ego hundreds of times throughout the publication of this blog, but if there is one thing to know about the ego it is this: it is not always the enemy, but it is often a liar and thus cannot be trusted as a friend.
Our ego is an undeniable part of who we are. It is, as some have called it, “home base” for us and our identities. The ego keeps us grounded in reality as functional people and it protects us from danger and harm; it is a necessary survival tool. But to truly grow spiritually, we have to look past the ego and identify with something deeper: the soul. Though the ego helps us define who we are in the world, we as children of God are not of the world. We cannot mistake our position with our person, our ego with our soul.
The ego will always make it about you. It will prop you up or put you down. Every success in the gym, every PR, every mile finished, every inch added to your arms will be chalked up to your raw willpower and personal effort; you will take all the credit. Likewise, every failure and shortcoming, every setback and lack of consistency will fall to your shoulders; you will be judged harshly by your own mind and you will covet the successes and gifts of others instead of celebrating your own.
On the other hand, the soul will always make it about God and neighbor. It will build up others, as well as yourself, with the peace of Christ for the glory of God. The soul does not identify with your successes or your failures but with its Maker. It does not see others as competition but as fellow souls on the journey. The soul praises God, from whom it draws strength and to whom it gives thanks for every opportunity to simply be.
But even if we identify more with our souls than our egos, it is still not always easy to recognize just how weak we are. But Paul reminds us of this truth: we are weak. By nature, we human beings are finite and fragile creatures compared to the infinite and immutable God. For all that we can accomplish on our own we can never even begin to touch the wonders of God; He made the whole universe after all!
Thinking on this scale, it should be obvious that comparing ourselves to God is a waste of time and energy, a fool’s errand. It might be less obvious, however, that boasting about our strengths and complaining about our weaknesses is equally a waste. When we get caught up in these things, boasting in our own abilities and comparing ourselves to others like the “super-apostles” of 2nd Corinthians or wishing our weaknesses away like Paul, we are giving in to the lies of the ego. We are becoming distracted by lies instead of seeing the Truth (that is, Christ Jesus).
In our weakness, or more accurately, in accepting our weaknesses the power of God is revealed and experienced. When we boast or complain we stand in arrogance or grovel in self-pity. But when we humble ourselves, when we see our weaknesses in the light of Christ, we fall to our knees in repentance as sinners and bow before God the Creator as creatures. Only then are we lifted up, held firmly by the Love that knows no bounds and strengthened by the grace of God! We are held higher than we could ever lift ourselves and feel the burdens of the ego slip from our shoulders! We are given strength beyond measure, peace beyond understanding, joy beyond words, and community rooted in love: we are forged further into body of Christ, each one of us bearing the light of Christ brighter than before.
I am not saying that we should never be proud of our successes or downplay how far we have come on our journeys of fitness and faith. It is a good and healthy thing to rejoice in your progress and take pride in your consistency. But we must remember to give God the glory! We are invited by Christ to make our training not only about ourselves but about God, to see and feel first hand how weak we truly are in mind, body, and spirit, in order to see just how strong God is! For through every pitfall and every peak, God carries us through. With every new milestone reached, God is there with us. With every breath we take, we breathe in the Spirit of the living God! Every movement is a prayer, every rep is a praise.
Give thanks to God for the gift of movement and seek the strength of the Lord over your own. Remember your own fragility and seek the impenetrable Spirit of the Lord. Feel the burn in your muscles, hear the doubt in your mind, but listen only to the Word in your heart; then, you will feel the strength of God magnified through your own weakness.
By Iron, through Iron, to Iron. Amen.
“[The Lord] said to me “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamites for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong” 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10.
Kommentare