The Real Source of Power

May 8

We like to feel competent. We enjoy being in charge. We like the acclaim that comes with being perceived as a person of resolute determination and ability—determination and ability that result in our success in every endeavor, professional and personal.

The Apostle Paul had been that kind of individual. He described himself as having been, ‘a Pharisee of the Pharisees…’ Philippians 3:4-10. He had been a man who placed achievement above all else. He was determined to excel at what he did. He was a man of esteem in the hierarchy of his religion—and he had earned that notoriety.

But it wasn’t because of his determination to attain personal perfection and to reach the top of the heap in his religious faith that he became useful to the purposes of the Kingdom of Christ. It was because he released all his successes when he beheld Jesus as He is. In II Corinthians 12:9, Paul acknowledged the futility of his own accomplishments in God’s scheme of things.

He was able to see the reality behind the self-delusionary desire for power that had motivated him and he said, “I will most gladly boast about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may reside in me.” The great Apostle acknowledged the futility of his own efforts and the total efficaciousness of the Lord’s work through him. He knew the real source of power was not himself, it was—and is—Jesus.