I hear the Saviour say, “Your strength, indeed, is small. Child of weakness, watch. Pray. Find in me your all in all.”
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.
(2 Corinthians 12:9,10 ESV)
Jesus Paid It All. (lyrics by Elvina M. Hall, 1865)
Charis: Subject to Change 
When I’m weak, Christ makes me strong, then once I’m strong, I realize I need to be weak, so I make myself weak and Christ makes me strong again: that Christ Just won’t quit. 😀
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True, Christ won’t quit. When we strengthen ourselves in the Lord, it is in the Lord. It is his strength working in us. We recognize our weaknesses but I don’t believe we need to make ourselves weak. In fact David gave the example of “strengthening himself in the Lord” after the incident at Ziklag.
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Oh I have to work constantly at making my self weak absolutely. There is a funny story about Ben Franklin that illustrates this point. Franklin was very egotistical and he knew that. His friends told him so regularly – as well as complaining about his other flaws. He actually asked them to critique him so he could become better. So, they each gave him a list and at the top of every list was “Need to become Humble”. He worked on his list for months and went back regularly to his friends to see how he was doing. When after about 6 months he threw a party for his friends as he had bettered his behavior on all the points. As he stood to propose a toast he was so proud of himself that he said the task he had accomplished could, be done by very few. It was at that point that he sddenly realized he had lost every bit of humbleness and he still had a long way to go.
I gotta tell you Charis every day I have to practice turning the other cheek along with other characteristics of walking with Jesus. If I look away even for a moment and someone slaps me across the cheek (metaphorically), I slap back. It is indeed, necessary for me to make myself weak.
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Ah. There’s the problem. We define “strength” quite differently.
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