[2 Corinthians 12, Proverbs 6]

H – 2 Corinthians 12:10, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

E – Real Pride vs Real Power!

Chapters 10-13 in 2 Corinthians are powerful in relation to the church of today. Paul was addressing a rebellious minority of the Corinthians who had boasted about a spiritual experience they had. However, this “spiritual experience” did not lead them to genuine repentance, rather a zealous pridefulness. Their claim of being “good” in the eyes of God was based off of what they had seen and who they were ethnically and nothing of what Christ had done internally and personally. 

Paul had a greater boast than any “spiritual experience” he could have been part of or witnessed through another (12:1-4). That kind of boasting only leads one to boast in a spirit of prideful conceit (12:7). Paul’s boast was in and through his weakness (12:5). What a complete 180! Paul’s point was that the evidence of God in their life is not in who they were ethnically, but in who they were spiritually. It was not in what they had seen or experienced, but in what Christ had done to transformed them spiritually through all seasons of life.

What demonstrated the Lord’s power was not heavenly revelations. What demonstrated the Lord’s power was Paul being able to persevere through the trail of a thorn in his flesh by knowing the sufficiency of God’s grace and the power of His presence (12:9). Therefore, he was content with his personal weaknesses and public persecutions. For it was in those moments that he experienced the power of God’s presence through the work of Christ. 

A – My boast should simply be in Christ; His death, burial, and resurrection. My boast should be in how He saved me and how He is transforming me away from the person I used to be. My boasting should be in His presence, regardless of where I am, in any season, going through any trial or difficulty. 

Don’t look for and hold on to spiritual experiences. Simply be content with Jesus and trust Him through every moment of life. 

R – Lord God, thank you for salvation. Thank you that in every moment of my life you are faithful. Your grace is sufficient. Help me be content in you, through all things. Your power in made known in my weakness. Lord, help me to experience your power today. The power to persevere. Give me your sustaining power today. I pray others would see you in me. 

In Jesus Name!