Embrace your weaknesses…and then strangle them. Just don’t try to do it by yourself. I write these words as a man who is still at the beginning stages of figuring out how to do this.
As a follower of the Scriptures, think about all the exhortations to overcome who we naturally are:
Ephesians 4:17-24 – “…put off…the old man…”
Romans 8:26 – “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.”
There are many. I have times when my thoughts and behaviors are just not pleasing to me…let alone a holy Creator. But how do we overcome our depravity, lack of self discipline, and bad habits? Embrace them.
I’m not talking about the embrace of acceptance. I’m talking about the embrace of subjugation. We all know this. And we try. But the emphasis is usually on the most dangerous letter in the English language: “I.” You cannot do this on your own. Romans 8 says “the Spirit” also helps in our weaknesses. So we must, as Ephesians suggests, make a conscious effort to and take ownership of our actions and our issues. We must embrace our weaknesses and diligently seek God for His help in choking the life out of them. We must embrace them until He takes them. We must subjugate our weaknesses with His help.
We don’t conquer a weakness to please God. We work with God to conquer our weaknesses because that pleases Him. It’s His work but, for some reason, He seems to want us to seek Him out, participate with Him, and conquer with Him. Sounds like He’s training us for something bigger…maybe something eternal…
What is the role of friends, family, and the rest of the Church? Well, that’s probably a series of blog posts.
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