And He said unto me, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee. For My strength is made perfect in thy weakness.’ Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9, KJV

Hey, girl, hey! Now, I know you read that verse just now. How did you feel about it? Did you understand it? If not, read the entire chapter and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal His meaning in His Word. Share in the comments what you gained.

Today, I decided to crack open the concordance using the Blue Letter Bible to look up some key terms. Holy Spirit ministered to me some startling truth. Thanks for the reminders, Abba!

Joy

Paul has joy amid his suffering—whether physical ailment or not, the Bible doesn’t explicitly state. And he rejoices because he understands the importance of gratitude and humility to continue in the Lord’s power.

Honesty is the best policy, right? Well, I have not always expressed joy, especially this year (although this is only the fifth month), and I know it is because I have often not felt it or felt like it. Yet, the fruit of the spirit in our lives reproduced by leaning into Holy Spirit includes joy. It’s not based on feelings or circumstances. Just like love, joy is a decision. If Paul chose joy, what gives me the audacity to think I can’t?

Gratitude & Humility

Gratitude and humility goes a long way. These two areas are what I’ve been allowing Holy Spirit to do a deep work in me. According to Merriam-Webster, gratitude is the state of being grateful, thankfulness. Humility means freedom from pride and arrogance, the state or quality of being humble.

Paul constantly reminds others to have hearts of thanksgiving while maintaining the meekness of Christ. He exemplified this in his daily life. As believers, we should as well. The beautiful thing is we don’t have to make it happen. All we need to do is lean upon Holy Spirit’s guidance to work it out through us.

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Has life been testing you on these points? Be at peace because you’re not alone, sis. Sometimes the various things we experience—the busyness of marriage and motherhood, for example—cause us to lose sight of what a beautiful hand we’ve received. Other times we’re so on top of our game that we forget that the Lord is the One who enabled us to achieve such greatness.

Perhaps the worst of them all is false humility, which makes us downplay Christ’s ability and gifts at work within us, which could turn into deception, stagnation, and disobedience. Yikes!

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Sis, let’s choose differently today.

Like Paul, let’s take our eyes off our thorns and remember what Christ has given us. The beautiful exchange of His power and grace working within us for all of our issues. Let’s lean upon Holy Spirit so that we, too, can maintain a grateful, gracious, and humble spirit and stay winning for Jesus!

Are you with me? Comment below!