“The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.” Romans 8:26a, NLT

Aren’t we all grateful for our strengths?  And aren’t we all wishing that we didn’t have to struggle with our weaknesses.  When I’m asked about overcoming a weakness, always remind people that we all have them.

The first step to overcoming your weakness is face it, with the help of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is not challenged by our weaknesses whether they are spiritual, physical, moral or our skill sets.  Sometimes it is our weakness that God chooses to work through.  I have a friend who who has a severe problem with stuttering but is able to sing powerfully and beautifully.  The bottom line is you first have to be willing to come to terms with and allow God to use your weakness.

Secondly, you partner with people who are strong where you are weak.  For example if you are challenged administratively then ask someone skilled administratively to help you.  One of my friends who is very successful and worked around the world in business, trusts his wife to organize their business.  He’s great with presentations but she is the administrative genius.  Sound familiar?

If your weakness is that you must do something you don’t enjoy.  I like what author and speaker Marcus Buckingham suggested.  He challenges you to look at your weakness from a perspective that strengthens you.  For instant if you hate being in a meeting, try to see how being in the meeting will help you serve your clients better.

Changing the way we think and talk to ourselves really does make a difference in our fulfillment, happiness and success.  Changing our perspective will increase our confidence and motivate us to overcome the challenge in front of us.

That’s why daily reading and memorization of the Bible is so important.  The Holy Spirit brings to our mind the Scriptural precepts, principles and promises that will conquer our weaknesses.  The apostle Paul describes the Bible as the Sword of the Spirit.  In 2 Corinthians 10:4, we are told that our weapons that  are not made by human hands but by God and they are extremely powerful.

So here are four suggestions to begin to address your weaknesses. 1) Face it, 2) Get a partner, 3) Change your perspective, 4) Memorize Scripture.