Devotional: Boast only of your weaknesses

Do you ever brag about your weaknesses? We seldom do. Instead, we boast of our accomplishments (our strengths).

The Apostle Paul said that we should always boast in God, not ourselves, but if we do boast about ourselves, let it be our weaknesses.

“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” (2 Corinthians 11:30)

Why is that important in the Christian’s life?

Perhaps Howard Butt can shed some light on the matter. He writes, “It is my pride that makes me independent of God. It’s appealing to me to feel that I am the master of my fate, that I run my own life, call my own shots, go it alone. But that feeling is my basic dishonesty. I can’t go it alone. I have to get help from other people, and I can’t ultimately rely on myself. I’m dependent on God for my next breath. It is dishonest of me to pretend that I’m anything but a man — small, weak, and limited. So, living independent of God is self-delusion. It is not just a matter of pride being an unfortunate little trait and humility being an attractive little virtue; it’s my inner psychological integrity that’s at stake. When I am conceited, I am lying to myself about what I am. I am pretending to be God and not man. My pride is the idolatrous worship of myself. And that is the national religion of Hell.”

So, it’s a pride thing! However, there’s not much pride going on when we boast of our weaknesses.

Paul found that to be true in life. He wrote of having a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan, and asked God three times to remove it. God’s response was: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthian 12:9a)

Because of that, Paul’s response was, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9b)

Let’s be like Paul and begin boasting of our weaknesses so that God can use us any way He sees fit!

This story was originally published April 21, 2017 at 7:59 AM with the headline "Devotional: Boast only of your weaknesses."