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Topical Bible Studies: Weakness PDF

Topical Bible Studies: Weakness

About This Bible Study on Weakness

Weakness isn't something people generally brag about. If you're weak, then the general trend is to try and hide it or forget about it.

But most of us can't help being aware of at least some of our weaknesses, even if we find it difficult to admit them. Can God use us despite our weaknesses? Is He somehow limited by our weaknesses?

You may be surprised at how God views our weakness.

Weakness

Are weak people disadvantaged?

1 Cor 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

Weak people are not at a disadvantage when it comes to God.

In fact, weak people are precisely the kind of people that God chooses to do great things through so that the glory will go to Him for what has been achieved.

How can God use a weak person?

2 Cor 12:9-10 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

God is especially looking for weak people so that He can use them to His glory.

Unlike the world, which seeks out the strongest, the brightest, and the best, God chooses to use weak people as it is an opportunity for Him to display His power.

No Christian should ever be ashamed of being weak; Paul, possibly the greatest example of Christian success (apart from Jesus Himself) who ever lived, took pleasure in his weaknesses.

When he did this, God was more able to use him, as Christ's power is able to shine through more purely in a weak vessel.

Isa 40:29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.

God gives power to the weak, and increases their strength.

This is because strong people are often confident in their own abilities.

When God uses a strong person to do great things, people who watch on often give the credit to the person rather than to God.

2 Cor 13:3-4 since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you. (4) For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.

The source of a weak person's strength is the power of God that comes through Christ's dwelling within them.

How does a weak person access God's power to become strong?

Joel 3:10 Beat your ploughshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am strong."

The weak ought to recognise that their source of power is Christ within.

This being the case, they can confidently proclaim that they are in fact strong.

However, this should always be done with the clear understanding that their strength is not their own, but originates with God Himself.

Rom 4:19-20 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. (20) He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,

Being weak does not mean being weak in faith.

Like Abraham, every Christian can be "strengthened in faith" as they look to God to supply what they lack in natural ability.

If you like these Topical Bible Studies, don't forget to check out our Expository Bible Studies too.

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Please note that all Scripture quotations, unless otherwise stated, are taken from the New King James Version ®.
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