We can boast in our infirmities
A Simple Message
“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
2 Corinthians: 12:9
When studying God’s Word we are given ample reminder of our own shortcomings as a species.
The Apostle Paul laments the inherent weakness and resulting struggle of our human nature in Chapter Seven of his Epistle to The Romans.
Paul, in detail, discusses his efforts toward godliness being consistently thwarted by his own carnal imperfections.
This sentiment is further emphasized in Psalms and Hebrews where we are told that Christ (who made Himself more like us for His Earthly ministry) was made a little lower than the angels — angels being inherently perfect in knowledge of and obedience to God, while Christ and all mankind suffered the temptations and weakness of human flesh.
In the warfare between our carnal and spiritual natures, we Christians can easily fall into feelings of weakness and weariness.
Yet, in spite of this, we are given charge not to grow weary in our well-doing; and even given encouragement that we partake of a mystery even the angels desire to see.
This mystery is, perhaps, no better illustrated than in Paul’s second epistle to The Corinthians.
Paul tells us this mystery is revealed in our having access to the grace of God through Jesus Christ to overcome our inherent imperfections, become better, more spiritual, and godlier as a result.
While this alone is very encouraging, it can be difficult for us to hold to the hope of this promise when faced with the daily struggles of our spiritual warfare.
There happens to be a school of thought that persisted for some 2,000 years that, while largely forgotten today, I find greatly encouraging to God’s people.
Sixteenth-century author Richard Hooker explained the idea that everything God created had some quality that made it superior in some way to every other thing God had made. For Humanity it was our imperfections that made us superior, even to the angels.
The belief held that while angels are inherently perfect, this means they cannot be better than they already are.
Humans, being imperfect, are given the grace and expectation to grow. Therefore, as Paul says, we can boast in our infirmities, because in them we experience the grace of God in fullness.
