Context No. 4125 of 4322 · 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 12:10-21: in context

10Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, and in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. 11I have become foolish in boasting. You compelled me, for I ought to have been commended by you, for I am in no way inferior to the very best apostles, though I am nothing. 12Truly the signs of an apostle were worked among you in all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty works. 13For what is there in which you were made inferior to the rest of the assemblies, unless it is that I myself was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong! 14Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I seek not your possessions, but you. For the children ought not to save up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 15I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less? 16Even so, I myself didn’t burden you. But you might say that being crafty, I caught you with deception. 17Did I take advantage of you by anyone of those whom I have sent to you? 18I exhorted Titus, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you? Didn’t we walk in the same spirit? Didn’t we walk in the same steps? 19Again, do you think that we are excusing ourselves to you? In the sight of God we speak in Christ. But all things, beloved, are for your edifying. 20For I am afraid that perhaps when I come, I might find you not the way I want to, and that I might be found by you as you don’t desire, that perhaps there would be strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, whisperings, proud thoughts, or riots, 21that again when I come my God would humble me before you, and I would mourn for many of those who have sinned before now, and not repented of the uncleanness, sexual immorality, and lustfulness which they committed.

Paul makes a statement that turns the world's thinking upside down: I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions and calamities, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. He had learned that his own weakness was not an obstacle to God's work but the very place where God's power was displayed.

This is a paradox at the heart of the Christian life. We instinctively think we need to be strong, capable, and self-sufficient to be useful to God. But Paul discovered the opposite: it was in his weakness, when he had no strength of his own to rely on and had to depend entirely on God, that Christ's power was made known through him. When I am weak, then I am strong, not because weakness is good in itself, but because weakness drives us to depend on God, and God's power is displayed in those who depend on him. Our weakness is not a disqualification; it can be the very stage on which God's power is shown.

When I feel weak, inadequate, or at the end of my own strength, do I see my weakness not as a disqualification but as the place where Christ's power can rest, learning with Paul that when I am weak, then I am strong in him?

Sources

2 Corinthians 12:10: "Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses... for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
2 Corinthians 12:15: "I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls."