Monday’s Verse:
From 2 Corinthians 11:30 ESV
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
We live in a world that encourages boasting. People boast about their accomplishments, possessions, intelligence, and successes. We want others to see our strengths, not our weaknesses. We want to appear confident, capable, and in control.
But Saint Paul turns this thinking upside down.
Rather than boasting about his accomplishments as an apostle, Paul points to his weaknesses. He speaks of his sufferings, hardships, persecutions, and struggles. Why? Because Paul understands something the world often forgets: God's grace shines most brightly when we recognize how desperately we need Him.
Paul is not celebrating weakness for its own sake. He is directing our attention away from human achievement and toward the saving work of Jesus Christ.
This is at the heart of our Lutheran understanding of salvation. We cannot boast that we have earned God's forgiveness. We cannot claim that our good works have purchased eternal life. We are sinners, helpless to save ourselves.
Yet Christ has done everything necessary for our salvation through His perfect life, suffering, death, and resurrection.
Our weakness does not prevent God's grace from reaching us. Rather, it reminds us why we need that grace in the first place.
The Christian's greatest boast, therefore, is not “Look what I have accomplished!” but “Look what Jesus Christ has done for me!”
When we recognize our weakness, we discover that our hope rests not in ourselves but in our crucified and risen Savior.
And that is something worth boasting about!
Today’s Prayers
Lord Jesus, help me not to feel like I need to prove anything. Help me to rely on Your grace. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
The photo above is licensed through Unsplash+