◄ What Does 2 Corinthians 12:10 Mean? ►

Human nature dictates that none of us can be content with weakness or insults. No-one delights in difficulties and distresses and naturally speaking none of us are happy to be persecuted or ridiculed by our fellow man. But this verse contains a very important modifying phrase: "FOR CHRIST's SAKE." It is for Christ's sake that we are content to be insulted and to suffer persecutions, and it is by His grace that we can be content in the middle of the difficulties and distresses that assail our lives.

It is for Christ's sake that we are content in our weaknesses and insults. It is for Christ's sake that we can be glad in our difficulties and rejoice in our distresses, and it is for the sake of Christ Jesus our Lord that we can be content in persecution and pain. It is for Christ's sake that we are also called to be content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties.

It was for Christ's sake that Paul could find contentment in so many difficult circumstances, and it was for His sake that Paul was able to pen the words: "When I am weak, then I am strong." And we are called to follow in his footsteps and discover a godly contentment, even when we are considered to be weak and foolish in the eyes of the world. Even when we are beset by all sorts of problems and persecutions, we know that our strength is found in the Lord, for in Christ we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us and gave Himself for us.

It was God's grace that redeemed the murderous Saul of Tarsus when Christ met him on the road to Damascus and he turned to Christ for salvation and it was by God's grace that Paul was enabled to confess: "I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions and with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

The vital clue to understanding this verse is to recognise the significance of that little phrase: "FOR CHRIST's SAKE." We have been saved by grace through faith in Him, and for His sake and His glory we should endeavour to graciously share the glorious gospel of Christ with those that insult us and cause us distresses and difficulties. For Christ's sake, we should be content to suffer various persecutions, pains, and difficulties, knowing that He not only gives us the necessary strength to endure, but that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Heavenly Father, I pray that I may learn to be content in all things for Christ's sake. Help me to be increasingly conscious of my own human weakness so that I may be supplied, day by day, by the strength of Your mighty power. Then, when I am at my lowest and weakest point in my life, I can be sure that I am at my strongest in You. In Jesus' name, AMEN.