"So the eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" nor again the head to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, all the more, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary." ~ 1 Corinthians 12:21-22
It is amazing to think that the believer OUGHT to have a lack of strength to be necessary in the body of Christ. This is not a singular teaching within Scripture, but on that is revealed many times. The second letter to the Corinthian church closes out by showing that the life and demonstration of kenosis by Jesus shows the necessity of weakness and humility for the power of God to be made manifest in the lives of those who seek Him. Two verses in particular stand out with relation to the need for weakness in the body of Christ.
First, 2 Corinthians 12:9 - "But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me." These are the words of Jesus to Paul and they remind him that weakness is an opportune time for God's grace to be made apparent in Paul's life. At times we do not recognize the sweeping effects of grace in our own life until a portion of that grace is removed (if for just a brief period of time). To understand God's total grace, we have to desperate and helpless from time to time. Job, Abram, Moses, Paul and Peter all understood to be at a loss of some sort of control or comfort and had to depend on God's grace even if circumstances were not ideal. God uses the human need for contrast to show us our need for him. Man recognizes certain traits not in a manner of definition but in a manner of difference. We do not understand dark without light. Cold without hot. Joy without sorrow. God uses weakness so that man can ascertain the beauty and strength of His Grace.
Secondly, 2 Corinthians 13:3b-4 - "He is not weak toward you, but powerful among you. In fact, He was crucified in weakness, but He lives by God's power. For we also are weak in Him, yet toward you we will live with Him by God's power." In an age of self dependence it seems self defeating to claim that depending on someone else is an example of strength. Jesus came to earth to do the will of His Father and not His own. Christ is the example to us that we cannot do much in our own strength but that God's power (the power to resurrect, to turn water to wine, to multiply the gift of fish and bread) trumps a self-reliant spirit.
Submitting my life to serve God and glorify Him is difficult and counter intuitive. But the fruits of His strength in our life are breathtaking...
