“Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

2nd Corinthians 12:9-10

So this week our series is focusing on being “free to fail.”  I don’t know about all of you, but this idea is pretty liberating for me.  The world has always had a great way of making me feel ashamed of my failures.  As well, I can feel pretty beaten down by my inadequacies even if they don’t actually caused me to fail at something.  It just seems to me that everything around me: media, mirrors, and even some well-meaning friends can continually remind me that I am not measuring up to the standards the world sets.

So the thought that Jesus loves me, even with those things in clear view, is incredibly freeing and uplifting.  Instead of feeling like I have to hide all those “undesirable” qualities, this message helps me to be a little more accepting of them.

I hope that the meditations of the next week help this truth to sink deep into your heart as well.  Jesus loves YOU unconditionally, the good, the bad and the ugly.  And His Spirit works inside our weaknesses to affirm that love.  The key to receiving it is to open up our hearts and minds to hear what He has to say in those times that we fall short.  We can never experience the depth of His grace by hiding, lying, and pretending that we have it all together.  Attitudes like that create a wall that leaves no room for the Spirit to reach us.  In this Christian journey, complete self-sufficiency is a lie utilized by our enemy to drive a wedge between us and our SAVIOR.

So let’s begin this week with a question to meditate and pray on.

“If I have no room for failure in my life, is there any room for Jesus to be my Savior?  Why would I need Him at all if I have everything covered?”

Grace to you my friends.