9 Common Lies Christians Believe: Part 2 Of 3Sample

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word paradox means “a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.” Basically, what seems silly to the world is the very thing that ushers in the power of God. When you compare the principles of God’s way of doing things to the principles of the world’s way of doing things, everything will seem backward. Up is down. Left is right. Wrong is right. A bull’s-eye doesn’t even hit the target. Gaining is losing. Last is first. And living is dying. 

Here are a few prime examples of scriptural paradoxes: 

To be exalted, you must be humbled. “Humble 
yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you”
( James 4:10). “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you” (1 Peter 5:6).

To be strong, you must be weak. “He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hard- ships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9– 10).

To be a receiver, you must be a giver. “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35).

To live, you must die. “If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

How incredibly confusing, and yet so wonderfully beautiful, are these paradoxes of the gospel. 

Question for Reflection: 

Which paradox encouraged you the most? How can focusing on this boost your spiritual growth? 


Truth: 

There is a way that seems right to the world, and there is a way that is right to the Lord. Always choose the Lord’s way over the world’s way.