Weakness
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The small guy in the gym.
The small guy in the gym.
Lifting and my dad’s comment. lol bring video.
I started lifting at the Upstate Nevada back in December. I had never done any olympic lifts so I was learning technique. We were doing cling and jerks and coach said I could put some weight on because I had the movements down. Brittany shot this video. I was excited and as soon as I got to the car after the work out I sent it to my dad with the sentence “check this out.” He didn’t respond, in the 30 seconds I alloted for him get back to me so I called him. “what did you think?” “Of what” he said, “of my video?” “I didn’t see it.” I urgently told him to watch it and I’ll wait. Now to any normal person who has an ounce of social awareness you all know what I wanted from my dad right!? Validation, affirmation. All he had to do was sound impressed or curious and say something like “thats awesome” or “great job” “thats crazy” but this is what happened, dad said, with full concentration, “nice job” hey how much are you lifting? I said 135lbs he said, “oh that’s nice” when I was lifting I cling and jerked 175lbs.
I’m one of the small guys in the gym. Even though my gym is great and everyone encourages one another you know people are still looking at who is lifting what and I’m sure they look at my bar and are thinking “oh thats nice” sometimes.
Our culture doesn’t value weakness
Our culture doesn’t value weakness
Our culture doesn’t value weakness. So much so that it tends to assign “weakness” to things that are often healthy traits, like: emotions, sensitivity, and different walks of life: non-conformity, disabilities and mental illness. We find weakness in all aspects from physical, to self-worth, to economic & social standings. We are so quick to mark success as being “strong” in certain arenas.
Maybe it comes out of a miss placed idea that success comes from hard work and perseverance. (two very strong qualities.) An idea on par with the American dream.
Paul on weakness
Paul on weakness
The idea brought me to Paul, writing his first letter to the church in Corinth.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,
Where he describes himself as weak and fearful with much trembling. Presenting his message in a humble way. This is quite a difference from how we read his letters, and not just us, the church in Corinth noticed as well. In his second letter Paul says,
For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”
For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”
Even they noticed a disconnect in his physical presentation.
Talk about poor weakness: It’s not something you do its something you are.
“Strong = fight or flight” “Weak = fake or flight”
Weakness ασθενια
Weakness ασθενια
The first main meaning is “weak,” or “weakness,” or “to be weak,” originally in the physical sense. In the NT the words are hardly ever used of purely physical weakness, but frequently in the comprehensive sense of the whole man. - TDNT
The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament B. Material Data.
It is often stated or suggested that man as a whole is an ἀσθενὲς ζῷον
Where God’s power rests
Where God’s power rests
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”
2 Corinthinas 12:9
Where God’s power rests
Where God’s power rests
God’s power is present in our weakness, “Completely carried out”
The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament B. Material Data.
The opp. of the ἀσθένεια of the σάρξ is the δύναμις of the πνεῦμα which συναντιλαμβάνεται τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ ἡμῶν (R. 8:26). Yet ἀσθένεια is not merely the opposite pole but in the Christian sphere can also be the place where the divine δύναμις is revealed on earth, as in 2 C. 12:9:
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
On the Right Track.
On the Right Track.
For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.
2 Corinthians 13:
When I cried. (big surprise) “I feel closer to Jesus today than I have in a long time.”