40+FAB Blog

Strengths don’t cure weakness

I loved reading comics back in the days, especially those that depicted superheroes. One of the super heroes that me and my friends wanted to be like was Superman. Why not? After all, he was super strong, he could fly, he had laser beams shoot out of his eyes, he could hear conversations miles away and much more. However, superman had a weakness that incapacitated all his powers. When he got around a piece of a green rock called Kryptonite, he became so weak he could hardly stand.

It is an age old fallacy that has deceived man for millennia, which makes us believe that the stronger we are, the less power our weaknesses have over us. This is why we assume that if our strength has brought us great success or acclaim, it somehow compensates for our weaknesses. So we invest in our strengths, but for the primary purpose of stamping out our weakness.

However, I have come to realise that strengths and weaknesses within an individual may have no bearing one on another. This is why a highly educated academic could be addicted to gambling. Many have been abused by someone who was very competent in one area of thier public life, but were morally weak in thier private life.

People with strength are usually given the benefit of the doubt in thier area of weakness, but this is always a big mistake because strength does not cure weakness.

It is important to understand that we all have both strengths and weaknesses, and we should be eager to identify both if we are to be successful. You are meant to develop your strengths, and mitigate your weaknesses.

Don’t spend time trying to make your weakness a strength, and also do not try to use your strengths to paper over your weaknesses. Recognise your strengths for what they are and where they are meant to be used. Manage your weaknesses so that they do not take you down on the day that you are meant to be exalted.