Grace For Our Weaknesses

Grace for Our Weaknesses

That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Growing up, I had a classmate who cried a lot. It seemed as though every time I looked her way, her eyes were welling with unshed tears or her head was buried in her arm to stifle them. Even though I was never unkind, inwardly I vacillated between pity and embarrassment.

It wasn’t because I thought she was weak; it was because her crying reminded me of something I didn’t like about myself. You see, I have always been a crier too. My friends and I have a running joke that if I’m in the room, they’ll never cry alone. I cry when I’m happy, sad, angry, or frustrated. I cry when I watch sappy movies or when others talk about difficulties. Tears are the release valve for my emotions. But even though I can joke about my penchant for crying, that doesn’t mean I like it. Crying is messy and often makes other people uncomfortable, and I would much rather be the person who passes out Kleenex than the person who needs the tissues.

In friendship, sometimes we must extend grace to others whose weaknesses are similar to our own. Whether we struggle with tears or anger, talk incessantly or are painfully shy, all of us have qualities we perceive to be weaknesses. Yet as Christians, we are reminded that our weaknesses aren’t a cause for embarrassment, they’re something that can be used for the glory of God. Or, as Paul says, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” When we see the qualities we struggle with reflected in others, as I did with my long-ago classmate, it must be our aim to extend grace in even greater measure. Because we know the struggle the other person experiences, we are uniquely positioned to sympathize and love the person who struggles in a similar way.

— Kristin

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Pray wholeheartedly for a friend whose weakness mirrors your own.