Strength in Weakness: A Truth Our Culture Has Forgotten

 

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (ESV)

“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ 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.”

Let’s be honest—no one enjoys pain. No one signs up for disappointment, discomfort, ridicule, or isolation. I certainly don’t. I’ve felt the sting of being left out, misunderstood, made fun of for being different. I’ve walked roads I didn’t choose and faced sorrows that felt unfair.

Coming from a background in education, I was trained to speak of self-esteem, of helping children know their worth and value. It’s a good goal—but in recent years, the message of self-worth has mutated. We’ve replaced the solid foundation of God-given identity with a shaky pedestal of self-glorification. The cultural anthem has become: "You are your own truth. Your desires define you. Everyone else must affirm it."

The LGBTQ+ movement, in particular, has adopted this message of identity as the ultimate form of personal truth. It's not just about being accepted as people, it's about affirmation of lifestyle choices, public expressions of sexuality, and the demand that society adjust its moral compass to accommodate behavior in order to validate feelings. We're told that if we don’t celebrate it, we must hate them. That is simply not true.

I don’t hate anyone. In fact, I deeply care. Because I know that chasing comfort outside of God’s truth leads to emptiness. I believe that everyone—regardless of their struggle or identity—is sacred, created in the image of God. That’s why I grieve when people are led to believe that sexual freedom or personal identity will satisfy the soul. It won’t. It’s a false comfort—an illusion that may numb pain for a season, but cannot carry you through life’s inevitable storms.

When the foundation of your identity is built on shifting desires or human approval, it will collapse when the next disappointment hits. It may feel good for a time, but it will not last. There is no lasting peace in self-made truth—only exhaustion from trying to hold it all together.

And the enemy loves this. Satan offers illusions, not healing. He disguises bondage as freedom, confusion as enlightenment, rebellion as authenticity. He convinces people that if they can just express themselves enough, they’ll feel whole. But all the while, he is pulling them further from the One who can truly make them whole.

But here’s the beautiful irony: even Satan’s attempts to destroy us are used by God to grow us. Just as Paul’s thorn in the flesh—“a messenger of Satan”—kept him humble and fully reliant on God's grace, so too does God allow hard things in our lives to shape us. The devil plots for our downfall, but God repurposes those very battles into strength-building seasons.

The stories of Job, Ruth, and Esther remind us of this. Pain and loss were real in their lives, but they were never wasted. What looked like defeat became a divine setup for victory.

The same is true today. When people look at our lives, they are watching closely. They want to know: How do you live through hardship? Where is your peace coming from? If all they see is us—they’ll only see another human struggle. But if they see Jesus in us, they’ll see hope. Not temporary hope. Real, eternal, transformational hope.

That kind of hope isn’t found in public applause, pride parades, or pronoun affirmations. It’s not found in politics or pressure campaigns. It’s found in abiding in the truth of Christ.

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”
— John 8:31–32 (ESV)

Freedom doesn’t come from doing whatever we want. It comes from surrendering to the One who created us. Real truth doesn’t chain us to man-made identity—it frees us to become who God designed us to be. The world's “truth” changes by the day. God’s truth never does.

Jesus offers a different kind of freedom—freedom from sin, freedom from shame, freedom from chasing affirmation. He offers peace that passes understanding. Hope that doesn't evaporate in suffering. Strength that rises in weakness.

This truth does not shame—it saves. It may confront us—but it leads us home.

So let us speak the truth in love. Let us stand with courage and compassion. Let us not bow to the pressures of culture but bow to the authority of Christ. And let us remember even in our weakness, His power is made perfect.

If you’re struggling today…

Know this: you are loved, seen, and created with purpose. But your purpose is not found in your pain or your pride—it’s found in Jesus. He doesn't leave you where you are. He lifts you, transforms you, and gives you real life.

Let the truth set you free.

Shining Light into the Dark

 

2024 Paris Olympics, public domain taken by Irene Leoline

Shedding light on evil is painful. We don’t like confronting the reality of the ugliness of human history. Instead, we prefer to look at the illusion of how wonderful life was back then, and the great wonders man has achieved.

It deeply saddens me that modesty and appropriateness for children have now become a toxic free-for-all, with all restraint gone. This did not happen overnight. It has been a systematic shift, purposefully orchestrated by those who want free will to do as they please and to have acceptance from all cultures, including the church. As long as the church is present on earth, there will be a voice calling out sin for what it is. So, they need to get the church to relent, just like a child desires a parent to change the limits.

Even a child understands the fundamental principle: if you want to do something you have been told not to, get the parent to change their mind by any means possible. Today, the means involve desensitizing the vast majority into acceptance a little at a time, moving the standard of acceptance one inch at a time until finally, you have moved the full length of the yardstick.

Calling into question Genesis 1-11 has allowed this shift away from holding onto a foundational standard of the Bible. The new standard of thinking, "I am not the worst person on earth," clears the way to lower the standard indefinitely. As long as you are not the worst, you are okay. This is how the standard is moved over time to allow for acceptance of any depravity of the human mind. Today, we call against sex trafficking but hold up the shiny glory of days gone by in ancient Greece and Rome, which supported the sex industry and enslavement as part of daily worship within the temples of stone and wood gods. In a few years, we may be back to that standard.

We are crying for the saving of children and the harm being perpetrated by self-worshipping evil people, all the while giving freedom to kill the very children who have not even left the womb. This is in the name of the god of self and the right to live life as one wants. Today, we protect children out of the womb and keep them safe. In the name of prosperity and wealth, children were sacrificed at the temple of the gods by the very hands of their parents. I fear we are returning to this reality as we have provided the means to mutilate the bodies of the very young. The children who, until this time, were understood to be incapable of understanding the long-term consequences of their choices and were much too young to have the skills and experience to make life-altering decisions. Magically, this has changed to give approval and acceptance for adults to have the comfort of enjoying the pleasures of sexual deviations. The confusion of a 7-year-old can lead them to choose to alter their body; but a 17-year-old is incapable of handling nicotine, alcohol, or firearms. The logic behind this rationale can only be traced back to what will justify the god of pleasure.

This all brings us to this past week. The show of what was said to be “art” and the reverence for history has caused a firestorm of both disgust and approval. This was no accident. By using the world platform to create shock and awe, the pebble in the lake has started the ripple effect. The question is, will the people of the church be silent?

The fact of the matter is humans are inherently sinful, and not everyone is always going to make the right choices or decisions. I am included in this nature. Earlier today, I was absolutely disgusted and disappointed with the justification of the parading of acceptance for debauchery, sexual free pleasure, and approval of public drunkenness. I spoke out when I should have been more cautious. As I am human, I will make mistakes, and I express my regret over my first ranting. But the very elements that keep harm from coming to people are the very same restraints people are complaining about, keeping people from having their fun. We all cry foul when a family in a car accident has been killed by a person who was intoxicated after a night of partying. We cry foul when a perpetrator rapes but wants free rein to express their sexuality and satisfy their pleasures.  Instead, they call on the “public” to look away to allow for their enjoyment parading down the streets. The reality is you can't have free will without restraint. There will always be a point where your free will comes into the sphere of another’s free will. Just by living our daily lives, we all affect each other.

God knew this and established the guidelines for us to live. Not a single law or guideline in the Bible is established to harm us or prevent us from a life of joy or peace. The only stealing of peace and joy is by the very sinful nature of our own will to serve self.

The Olympic opening ceremony was an example of our human want to become our own gods, to serve ourselves, and to celebrate our achievements in attaining this. Sadly, this has tainted all the hard work and dedication many of the participants have put into this event. We should not stop supporting the spirit of the accomplishments these athletes have achieved. Nor should we stop supporting the spirit of the want to have peace and work together. We should hold those in leadership of the Olympics accountable and call out the distasteful charades of personal agendas. Future events should be monitored and reviewed for discreetly appropriate displays.

How should the church respond? We need to call attention to what is sin. Yes, we will offend. That is the point. Calling sin for what it is will be offensive. The Gospel is offensive to evil. But we need to also be tempered in our expressions and remember we are all of the same human race in which we all sin and are all struggling against the desires of self. That is why we are in desperate need of rescue. There is only one way of rescue, and that is through the Gospel and Jesus. Your good works won’t get you to heaven; killing people or completing penitence won’t get you to heaven; praying to a saint or paying your way won’t get you into heaven; thinking good thoughts or worshipping wood and stone statues won’t give you peace. There is only one true way that will solve your sin problem, and that is through knowing and believing in who Jesus is, the only Son of God.  When you die, do you know if you will be going to heaven?

20  Woe to those who call evil good

and good evil,

who put darkness for light

and light for darkness,

who put bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:20

27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Matthew 26:27-29