Daily Reflections ...

The irony of Jesus’ reference to God’s perfection is that it highlights our imperfection. We cannot be perfect as God is, certainly not under our own steam. Of course, that is the point. Without God, we can do very little of any lasting value. This realisation dawned on St Paul as he struggled with the life to which God had called him. Paul was a man driven by his ideals. With the enthusiasm of inexperience, he worked hard to live those ideals and insisted that others do the same.

By the time Paul wrote his second letter to the Corinthians, he was a man who had encountered his weakness and had learned to see his relationship with God in Christ differently. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul reflects on his being but a ‘clay jar’ containing a treasure much more valuable than he had a right to contain. In doing so, he highlights a particularly Christian perspective on the role of weakness and struggle in the spiritual life: our imperfection does not of itself separate us from God.

Our wounds do not alienate us. God can use clay jars if we offer them to him. It is the presence of God’s Spirit in us transforming us into the image of God’s son, which is the perfection God is looking for.

Acknowledging weakness can be disturbing, schooled as we are in needing to be seen by others to be successful. Coming to that point can take a while, but God’s time is not ours. Does our weakness allow the clay to soften so God can reshape us?

by Shane Dwyer