Devotion – The Grace of Christ in Our Struggle

Scripture

2 Corinthians 12:9
“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

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Puritan Insight (John Owen)

“A sense of the love of Christ is the greatest motive to the mortification of any sin.”

Owen understood that willpower alone cannot kill sin. It is not the fear of punishment but the love of Christ that fuels obedience. When the believer experiences Christ’s grace, sin loses its charm, and holiness becomes a response of love.

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Reflection

The struggle with sin often exposes our weakness in painful ways. Like Paul, we cry out for deliverance and sometimes feel the thorn in our flesh remains. Yet it is precisely in this weakness that Christ meets us with strength. His grace is not a shallow comfort, but a powerful provision.

Grace does not excuse sin. It does not say, “Keep failing; it doesn’t matter.” Instead, it empowers us to rise again, to fight anew, to keep pressing forward. Grace assures us that our failures do not define us — Christ does. And because He has conquered sin and death, His strength flows into our weakness.

When we stumble, the enemy whispers that we are disqualified, unworthy, finished. But grace silences the lie: “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:20). In our failures, Christ invites us not to run away in shame but to draw closer, clinging more tightly to His sufficiency.

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Contemplation

Do I see my failures as final verdicts against me, or as opportunities to lean harder into Christ? Am I so focused on my weakness that I forget His strength is revealed through it? The gospel is not a call to self-sufficiency but to Christ-dependency.

Grace teaches us that the battlefield of sin is also the classroom of faith. Every fall, every tear, every cry of “I cannot” becomes an invitation to say, “But He can.”

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Prayer

Lord Jesus, I thank You that Your grace does not run dry. In my moments of weakness, You draw near. In my struggles, You prove sufficient. Teach me to lean on You when I am weary, to run to You when I stumble, and to rest in You when I feel inadequate. May a deep sense of Your love motivate me to put sin to death and live for Your glory. Amen.

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Challenge

Temptation often tempts us to self-reliance — to grit our teeth and try harder. But today, choose a different response. Each time temptation comes, pause and pray aloud or in your heart:
“Christ, Your grace is sufficient.”

Notice how this shifts your focus — from your weakness to His strength, from your willpower to His power, from your failure to His faithfulness.