Showing Weakness

“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” (Ether 12:27). In order to become strong, we must first be willing to show our weakness. We don’t get stronger physically unless we sweat and strain and take on exercises that we can’t do comfortably or easily. We have to show the effort and the struggle and the weakness. And then we become stronger. If we only do the kinds of exercise that are effortless and easy, not only will we not become stronger but we will start to grow weaker. In order to become smarter, we must first show our stupidity. We must reveal that we don’t know what we’re talking about and those who are smarter and wiser will leap at the chance to teach us, sometimes kindly and sometimes cruelly, but we will then be smarter. But if we insist on appearing smart and pretend that we know what we’re doing and do everything we can to not reveal our ignorance, we will not grow any smarter because everyone will assume that we already know. The path to strength is humility. It is willing to show that we are stupid, so that we can become smart, to show that we are weak, so that we can become strong. The more of our weakness we are willing to show, the greater our strength will become. We gain courage by doing things that scare us. We gain empathy by embracing those that are different. We gain peace not by fighting against the chaos but accepting it as a part of life. If we insist on appearing strong, we will remain weak, but if we embrace our weakness with all humility, we will transform our weakness into strength.