Are Christians Supposed To Be Powerless?

Have you ever wondered whether Christians were supposed to be powerless?

Unlike other people, we were taught to forgive our enemies. Rather than fighting back, we should even turn the other cheek. We should hold no resentment against our neighbors.

Everything about Christianity teaches us to love and be merciful.

It invokes us to forget ourselves and not seek worldly riches or power.

It’s no wonder that some of us may sometimes feel so powerless against the world. In recent times when the world is growing more secular and antagonistic about our faith, we may feel threatened in many ways. We may feel that we can no longer live our faith in the ordinary operations of society. In many ways, we fear not only losing our livelihood but our very way of life.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why some of us resort to a Gospel of doom and gloom. Because we could no longer see ourselves coping with our earthly life, we can’t help but look the other way. We become cynical and aloof. We think that anyone who is not openly supporting us is already trying to persecute us.

But Christianity should not be a religion of escape.

Our crucified Lord at the cross has His arms opened wide, loving us all and embracing us amid the sufferings and imperfections of life.

Christianity is not a religion of defeat but of victory. It is not the faith of people who are weak, but of a Church that has received power from above.

How then can we say we are not powerless?

“For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.” – 2 Timothy 1:7 (NABRE)

Let us carefully note how in the said Bible verse, power is mentioned along with love and self-control. All three should work together in accomplishing God’s will in our lives.

I have experienced this in my personal life.

While at first I sometimes felt powerless in the face of people who offended me, I realized God’s wisdom in all His teachings.

My resentment against evil people never helped me achieve true strength. Even my desire to seek justice in my own way only brought me further misery.

On the other hand, being patient and having a humble attitude helped me handle things better. Letting go of hatred and resentment also enabled me to accomplish more rather than being forever enslaved by feelings of revenge.

Praying fervently for God’s help without harboring ill will for our neighbors sets about a miraculous turn of events that would not have been possible had we chosen to do things our own stubborn way.

We are more powerful with God on our side in more ways than we could ever imagine!

So take heart. Christians were not meant to be weak but strong. We were supposed to have God’s unfathomable grace and power.

“What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” – Romans 8:31 (NABRE)

Jocelyn Soriano writes about relationships and the Catholic faith at “Single Catholic Writer”. She wrote the books To Love an Invisible God, Defending My Catholic Faith and Questions to God.

Get the book from Amazon.

Get my books from other digital stores.

You may also want to read “How Should Christians Respond To Bullying?”