“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9b, NIV)

One of the wild things about the human heart is that it can trick us into boasting in our weaknesses so that others step in and build us up. It’s not humility in those situations; it’s actually pride.

But, to be fair, it’s pride wearing glasses and a hat to look different.

Real humility would be boasting in our weaknesses so we might decrease and Jesus might increase—as John the Baptist said, and lived out. God loves humility. Pride, on the other hand, he does not; in fact, he detests it.

Why?

Because pride is idolatry. Pride is look at me instead of God. Pride is I am more important than the one who created me. Pride is I am more valuable than the one who sustains me.

So, you might ask, why wasn’t Paul being prideful in boasting about his weaknesses? He was still boasting, wasn’t he?

Paul was definitely boasting and it’s true he was boasting about something to do with himself. The reason for his boasting, however, makes all the difference in determining whether or not this was pride in Paul or humility. And the reason is made clear in the second half of Paul’s statement. He says, “…so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Why was Paul boasting about his weaknesses? It wasn’t so that others would feel sorry for him. It wasn’t so that others would feel obligated to build him up. It wasn’t manipulative at all.

It was so that the power of Jesus would be on him. Or, put another way, it was so that he would experience not his own power—as if he (or we) had any power of his own—but the only real power that comes from the one true God.

This is Christ-centered humility (which is the only real humility) on display from Paul.

Another striking thing that can be seen from this verse is that this is not only true humility, but it’s true power. It’s Christ-centered power. Paul is boasting in his weakness to receive power because in the kingdom of God a lot of things are turned upside-down. In the kingdom of God true humility is not found in manipulating others. And in the kingdom of God true power is not found by making yourself powerful; instead, it’s found by laying bare your weakness.

If you want to be powerful (truly powerful for the kingdom of God), joyfully show the world how weak you are, and then trust Christ to give you his strength in such away that that you may never be able to point to yourself as the source of your power.