Just As I Am

Friday, November 4

Just As I Am
By: Pastor Todd Crofford 

 
Imagine for a minute that you are a preacher, and this is the description many use for you:

“He is unimpressive, and his speaking amounts to nothing.”

That is exactly how many people in Corinth described Paul, and even worse, he was well aware of it, because he wrote that down as a quote of what he knew people said of him. That sort of stuff can really bruise the ego, maybe even make us want to give up.

Instead, guess what it did to Paul?  It caused him to rejoice.  Because every time he saw God work through him- which by the way was often- Paul knew God alone would receive the glory.  Paul even said it himself this way. 

I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. -II Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV

Imagine this week you stop crushing yourself for every way you fall short, for everything you don’t like about yourself, and every way you feel like you don’t measure up to everyone else. You just say, “God you can use me just as I am for greater glory for you!”

So c’mon try this with me this weekend. Let God know that every frail, faltering part of you is fully committed to God and ready for his glory.  Paul did that and God used him greatly. It’s our turn.