Weakness

No matter how strong you are, no matter the amount of your effort or purity of your intentions, your weakness can cut you down at the knees.

Superman's weakness is a green mineral made up for his story. It is a substance we will never encounter. For heroic lore, it is useful to give a powerful main character a vulnerability. But it doesn't matter that it is rare, originating from his home planet Krypton, Superman’s enemies found it and used it against him. When a hero denies their weakness, they set themselves up to fall to its power and then also to their enemies who are eager to exploit it.

The stories we love keep us mindful about what holds us back. How many powerful, successful men and women do we see crash publicly under some embarrassing scandal? From mythology, an Achilles heel is a weakness that remains in a character that appears over all to be strong. This weakness eventually leads to the apparently invulnerable character’s downfall. The idea of an Achilles heel can point to an attribute or quality that leads to a character’s downfall.

A weakness unexamined is a trap. A weakness understood and tamed leads to freedom.

Weakness is a counterintuitive concept in scripture. First, we are focusing on mitigating our true weakness so that we can become more effective for Kingdom work. Our ongoing sin, secret struggles, or any lack of integrity are weaknesses that will hinder against all our other strengths and efforts. This is the place to begin, otherwise your efforts will be fruitless.

The flipside is to be healthy and recognize that, God acting through us, as we strive to do the work of Jesus in the world, we aren’t really doing any of it on our own. In that case, acknowledging our weakness, letting go of ourselves, becomes our greatest strength.

I didn’t understand this for many years.

The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

— Proverbs 16:17-18 (ESV)

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

— Proverbs 16:25 (ESV)

Proverbs contains wisdom collected by King Solomon to be shared with those who seek to become wise. Chapter 16 is a rich collection of wise teachings. Verse 17 describes how the wise identify evil and work hard to avoid it. The rest is a powerful lesson why. Pride often causes us to think we can manage a little sin. Pride itself is also a sin. Verse 16:25 reminds us that thinking we know better than God’s instruction is a dangerous form of pride. Taking matters into our own hands, despite the cautions God gives us, lead to fruitless living and eventual death. I’d also like to add, from my experience, effort that we think are noble and good, done while living a life entangled in sin, is a shadow of fruitful living and when you look back, you’ll see it was empty, dead effort.

2 Corinthians 12:9 Is a popular verse for weakness, it has a powerful lesson of complete reliance on God. So it is applicable to the second point above, we will cover this verse under Nemesis.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

— Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)

The writer of Hebrews makes it clear that the way to victory starts with laying aside sin which entangles.

2 Peter 2:20 Discusses being entangled and overcome by sin after having once escaped through the knowledge of Jesus. If you want to dig into the gloomy prospect of returning to sin after being freed by Jesus, read what Peter teaches in the entire chapter of 2 Peter 2.

These questions will not be comfortable. They are not meant to be. Sit with each one privately and answer honestly before moving to the next.

The recurring pattern. What unwanted behavior, failure, or temptation shows up regularly in your life? The situation that always costs you. Name it specifically, not generally.

The protected territory. What area of your life do you resist opening to others? Desperate hiding and defensiveness is a clue. The area you fear sharing is where harmful sin and shame still traps you.

The design-around. If you accept this weakness, it will not disappear without help. How would life be different if you were free from it? Who are the safe people you can reach out to for real help?

The grace question. Where have you concluded that you can never share the truth? Have you said, “I’m taking that to my grave?” Have you appreciated who really loves you and wants you to be free?

Naming your weakness is not a one-time thing. Your weakness can change. It can also reappear.

This is where your Heroic Wheel begins. Before any other point on the wheel can be developed, this one must be faced. A hero who does deal honestly with their weakness cannot grow or win.

Your first journal prompt for this the concept of Weakness is waiting in your sidebar. It will ask you to name your deepest weakness. Be honest. Identify your specific, named thing that you know is hindering your heroic life. That naming is the beginning.

Watch the session below for a deeper exploration of what it means to design a heroic life beyond your weakness rather than against it.

[When ready, I'll add a video here that looks deeper — Weakness: The Heroic Thorn]