“What about him?” attitude - Pitfall #3 & 4

Click here for the introduction of this blog series.

Pitfall #3: We do not understand how God’s strength is displayed.
God’s power is more evident in our weaknesses. An example of this is in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. To keep Apostle Paul from becoming conceited, he was given a thorn in the flesh. He pleaded with the Lord 3 times for it to be taken away. The Lord didn’t take it away because he said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Paul didn’t respond by saying, “NO FAIR, YOU TOOK THAT GUY’S THORN AWAY!” He actually said, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” May we find strength in our weaknesses as we hold tight to God’s all-powerful hand.


Pitfall #4: We are only focusing on what we don’t have.
God told Adam that he could eat from every tree of the garden, but not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil (Genesis 2:16-17). Adam & Eve were supposed to follow this command. However, Satan tempted them and they disobeyed God (Genesis 3:1-6). Many of us do the same thing. Even though God “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17), we desire other things. We tend to be content with what we have as long as we don’t see anything “better”. Then all of a sudden, what we have looks plain, boring, out of date, unappealing, unsatisfying, etc. God knows that we need. The Word says to, “…be content with what you have…” (Hebrews 13:5b). Apostle Paul also talked about this subject in 2 Timothy 6:6-8, “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” Are you content today?