Topic: Four Strengths in Vulnerability [RICK WARREN Devotional 4 February 2021]
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Four Strengths in Vulnerability
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
James 4:6 (NLT)Your vulnerability is not a weakness. In fact, vulnerability is a strength! God can take your vulnerabilities and make you spiritually empowered, emotionally healed, relationally attractive, and formed for leadership. Here’s how.
First, being open and honest with other people about your weaknesses is spiritually empowering because it opens the door to God’s grace: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6 NLT). Grace is the power you need to change and break through your bad habits and weaknesses.
Vulnerability is also emotionally healing. James 5:16 says, “Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (TLB). If you want to just be forgiven, you don’t need to confess your sin to anyone other than God. But if you want to be healed, you’ve got to share your weaknesses with somebody else. God has wired you in such a way that revealing your feeling is the beginning of healing.
Next, vulnerability is relationally attractive. The Bible says, “We all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2 NIV). James even included himself in that statement. When someone tells you that they mess up too, they become more relatable. Nobody wants to be married to or friends with a narcissist. But when you’re vulnerable—when you admit your weaknesses and maybe even laugh at yourself—you draw people in.
Being vulnerable doesn’t just give you spiritual power, help you heal, and make you more attractive. It’s also a requirement for leadership. If you can’t be vulnerable, you’re not a leader; you’re just a boss. “If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom” (James 3:13 NLT).
As you gain God’s wisdom, you also become humbler. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10 NIV). God honors your humility and vulnerability and uses them to form you into a leader.
The Bible can really be countercultural, can’t it? The world tells you to keep your guard up and not appear weak. But God says to boast in your weaknesses—because they reveal his power and make you more dependent on him.
Will you let your guard down so that your weaknesses can point others to Jesus Christ?
- What do you think of people who make themselves vulnerable by sharing their weaknesses with others?
- Why does getting God’s wisdom make you humbler?
- Are you more interested in making known your strengths or God’s power? How is evidence of your answer revealed in your life?