“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” — Galatians 2:20
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Russell Westbrook recently moved into 28th on the all-time NBA postseason scoring list, as his Denver Nuggets played a second-round playoff series against his former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Westbrook doesn’t have a championship ring yet, but he’s done almost everything else that can be done with a basketball in his 17 years in the league. Generally, Russell makes good passes, dribbles well, and plays with great energy, but his shooting percentage is sometimes disappointing. Of course, nobody’s perfect and none of us likes to look at our weaknesses, but we need to build on our strengths and reduce our weaknesses.
Even our greatest spiritual heroes of the Bible struggled with weaknesses. For example, Moses is known as one of the greatest men who ever lived. He wrote the first five books of the Bible, led the Israelites safely across a barren wilderness, and the Lord worked many miracles through Moses on behalf of the people. However, Moses had a hot temper and his anger issues led him to kill an Egyptian and throw down the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, breaking them into pieces. He also hit a rock in anger when God told him to only speak to the rock to bring out water, and this prevented Moses from entering the Promised Land.
Samson was another outstanding leader for Israel, but he forfeited the opportunity to do more good because lust ruled his life for several years. He allowed Delilah and several other women to turn his heart away from God. When Delilah found the secret of his strength and cut his hair, he lost his ability to fight the Philistines and they gouged out his eyes. The Lord was patient with Samson but finally had enough of his refusal to listen. In the last moments of Samson’s life, he humbled himself before God, destroyed the lust in his heart and won an amazing triumph for Israel. The only path to victory was to put away his consuming lust and live surrendered to God.
Throughout Jesus’s ministry, Simon Peter was a spokesman for the 12 disciples, but Peter didn’t always make it easy on Jesus. As Jesus predicted His crucifixion and resurrection, Peter didn’t understand and rebuked Him. “‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’ Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns'” (Matthew 16:22-23).
Even Peter, who spent years with Jesus, made mistakes with his words and actions. We are all like him in ways, and not one of us is perfect. We need the blood of Christ to cleanse us completely. Jesus wants us to crush our selfishness and sinfulness like we’d stomp on a roach, and He wants to live through us. We’re not capable of living the life God intended without supernatural help, and the apostle Paul urged us to put everything in God’s hands daily. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
When we recognize our weak areas and invite God into those places — living for Him daily and fully surrendered — we will see Him use us mightily. It is when we strive in our own strength, refusing to look at or work on our sins and weaknesses that we will miss all that God has for us. And we know what He has is greater than anything we can do on our own.
— Bill Kent, Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, Sylvania, Georgia
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