The Illusion of Strength
“Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
John 13:37
Peter doesn’t just express confusion, he follows it up with confidence. Bold confidence. He looks at Jesus and essentially says, you’ve misunderstood me. You don’t see what I’m capable of. I would die for you.
And the problem is, he believes it.
This is not Peter trying to deceive Jesus. This is Peter being deceived about himself. Somewhere along the way, his proximity to Jesus, his experiences, his moments of success, all began to shape the way he saw himself. He cast out demons, he saw miracles, he walked closely with Christ, and slowly but surely he began to buy into the idea that he was stronger than he really was.
He bought the lie of himself.
That is what pride does. It muddies the waters. It takes what God has done through you and convinces you that it came from you. It takes moments of faithfulness and turns them into a false identity. It makes you think you are something that you are not.
And it is subtle.
It shows up in the quiet confidence that says, I would never do that. I would never fall there. I would stand in that moment. I would be faithful under pressure. It shows up in the assumption that your devotion is stronger than it actually is.
And Jesus, in His kindness, does not let Peter sit there.
He tells him the truth. Not only will you not die for me, you won’t even stand for me. You will deny me. Not once, but three times.
Because Jesus loves him too much to let him live in illusion.
And this is where it gets personal. Because we all have areas where we think we are stronger than we are. We all have places where we assume we would stand, where we assume we are solid, where we assume we are beyond certain failures. And left unchecked, that confidence will eventually be exposed.
Pride does not make you stronger.
It makes you vulnerable.
And the mercy of God is that He exposes it before it destroys you.
John 13:37
Peter doesn’t just express confusion, he follows it up with confidence. Bold confidence. He looks at Jesus and essentially says, you’ve misunderstood me. You don’t see what I’m capable of. I would die for you.
And the problem is, he believes it.
This is not Peter trying to deceive Jesus. This is Peter being deceived about himself. Somewhere along the way, his proximity to Jesus, his experiences, his moments of success, all began to shape the way he saw himself. He cast out demons, he saw miracles, he walked closely with Christ, and slowly but surely he began to buy into the idea that he was stronger than he really was.
He bought the lie of himself.
That is what pride does. It muddies the waters. It takes what God has done through you and convinces you that it came from you. It takes moments of faithfulness and turns them into a false identity. It makes you think you are something that you are not.
And it is subtle.
It shows up in the quiet confidence that says, I would never do that. I would never fall there. I would stand in that moment. I would be faithful under pressure. It shows up in the assumption that your devotion is stronger than it actually is.
And Jesus, in His kindness, does not let Peter sit there.
He tells him the truth. Not only will you not die for me, you won’t even stand for me. You will deny me. Not once, but three times.
Because Jesus loves him too much to let him live in illusion.
And this is where it gets personal. Because we all have areas where we think we are stronger than we are. We all have places where we assume we would stand, where we assume we are solid, where we assume we are beyond certain failures. And left unchecked, that confidence will eventually be exposed.
Pride does not make you stronger.
It makes you vulnerable.
And the mercy of God is that He exposes it before it destroys you.
Posted in The Word Made Flesh
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