Strength in Christ
By Anthony Tawadros
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” – Philippians 4:13
I remember reciting this verse by heart. My mom always reminded me to recite that verse whenever I was feeling sad or alone, feeling anxious or desperate, or in any situation in which I forgot my identity in Christ. So what does it actually mean? What does it actually mean, that in any situation, Christ will strengthen me?
Since the perfect Being, had assumed imperfection on our behalf, He then had perfected imperfection. Simply put, Christ being God, strengthened our human nature through His incarnation. But He simply didn’t strengthen it. He perfected it, blessed it, and sanctified our human nature. God became man, that man may become like God. And as man, Christ had endured so many hardships that we are also bound, or if not already had encountered. Christ was mad when people were selling and stealing things at the place of worship; in His Father’s house.
Christ had felt sorrow when his beloved Lazurus had died. Christ had felt deceived when He had witnessed Judas betraying Him for an easy thirty pieces of silver. Christ felt anxious and scared at the cup that He would soon be bearing, to the point that He had sweat blood. Christ felt abandoned and sad when His life-long disciples had left Him in the night of Gethsemane, when
He was being arrested. And Christ had felt rejected when Peter, His most outspoken disciple had once swore to die for him, but instead denied Him; not once, or twice, but three times. Christ had felt pain and humiliation when He was beaten, mocked, nailed, and stabbed. Christ had went through it all. But the God who had endured these things, emerged victorious in them, because He is God.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me , means that I can overcome any obstacle, or all things , because Christ endured all things , and became victorious in them.
Whenever I feel alone, anxious, broken, betrayed, scared, or angry, or even faced with the very fear of death, I am reminded that Christ too went through these emotional and physical sufferings. So, I too can be victorious in them, because Christ overcame these things and was victorious in them.