Leviticus 19:36 tells us, “You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” Proverbs 20:23 reminds us, “Unequal weights are an abomination to the Lord, and false scales are not good.” Job 31:6 states, “Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!” Psalm 73:26 defines our needs, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” 2 Timothy 1:7 Instruct us, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” The Bible is specific in telling us to have a balance in our lives, ignore our weaknesses, and rely upon our strengths. Some oriental religions refer to Yin and Yang, “which is two halves that together complete wholeness. Yin and yang are also the starting point for change. When something is whole, by definition, it’s unchanging and complete. So, when you split something into two halves – yin/yang, it upsets the equilibrium of wholeness. Both halves are chasing after each other as they seek a new balance with each other.” (Staff, 2021) It is said that the person, the family, the community, the world, and the universe function best when all things are in balance.
The Bible tells us that Matthew 28:19 states, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Many things come in threes in the Bible, there are three types of living things, three types of plants, three units of time, three lights in the sky, and many other examples. 1 Thessalonians confirms the use of trilogies. “The God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul, and body be preserved entire, without blame unto the coming of the lord.” Trichotomists believe there are three parts or essential elements of man, which are the body, the soul, and the spirit. Jeremiah 1:5 tells us, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” God has a plan for each of us to follow, God gives us perfections that we call strengths to be used in achieving God’s plan. To maintain the balance if we have strengths, we will also have weaknesses. God gave us “free will” which allows us to choose between our strengths and our weaknesses. Those that live using their strengths will live happy fulfilling lives. Those that allow the weakness to control their lives will never be fully content or happy. How a person chooses between their strengths and weakness will be a determining factor in their spiritual development and their happiness. 1 Peter 5:8 reminds to, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Then Mark 7 21-23 warns us, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, all these evil things come from within and defile the man.”
There are as many weaknesses as there is imagination. Being disorganized, being self-critical or overly sensitive, trying to be a perfectionist, being terribly shy, being aggressively competitive, having limited experience in a nonessential skill, and the list goes on forever. “Having an area of weakness doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It could be something you struggle with, but it could also be something you haven’t spent the time to develop yet. And by turning a weakness into a strength, you build other important skills like a growth mindset and grit. Knowing your personal areas of strength and weakness is not always easy. It takes self-awareness and self-reflection. So, ask yourself, what are you good at? Or, ask someone you trust to tell you what your areas of strength and weakness are.” (Davis, 2020) “The mismanagement of your weaknesses is a sure-fire way to derail yourself from full engagement and land right into a world of clutter, busy work, and frustration that yields disengagement and disenchantment. We live in a weakness-focused world; a world that believes that the opposite of bad is good and one that easily focuses on failure and fault instead of strength and success. No doubt, we all have imperfections and plenty of them, but these imperfections reveal little if anything about our strengths and talents. We spend countless hours focused on the development of our weaknesses in an attempt to “fix” them and eradicate them. A fool’s errand. Manage yes, fix no. We are literally hijacked by self-criticism and focus on fault and failure. “ (Walker, 2015) We need to always remember that we have God-given strengths for us to utilize and take advantage of during our daily activities. We also need to be aware that we all possess weaknesses that can derail our best intentions. We have to constantly pick which we want to display in our daily interaction with our family, our friends, and at work. Allowing the devil to pick for us guarantees we will be operating in the weakness area. 2 Timothy 2:15 expresses, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” We are human and we will make mistakes. If there is a question in your mind about what is a strength and what is a weakness a simple prayer and some thought will probably give you the answer you need. We need to remember that Philippians 4:13 promises that, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Davis, T. (2020, 11 2). Psychology Today. Retrieved from How to Find Your Areas of Strengths and Weaknesses: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/click-here-happiness/202011/how-find-your-areas-strength-and-weakness
Staff. (2021). Personal Tao. Retrieved from What is Yin Yang: https://personaltao.com/taoism/what-is-yin-yang/
Walker, M. (2015, 5 16). Psychology Today. Retrieved from Engage Your Strengths and Manage Your Weaknesses: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/adventure-in-everything/201505/engage-strengths-manage-weakness