Cover My Weaknesses (Weaknesses)
A friend is someone who brags on your strengths, covers your weaknesses, and never talks behind your back. Let’s talk about what it means to cover each other’s weaknesses because, honestly, you are looking pretty weak. No one likes to admit it, but we all have weak areas in our life. Even the wisest man to ever live, next to Jesus, had a weakness, and his weakness was women. 1 Kings 11:1-4 says, "King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, ‘You must never intermarry with them because the foreign women will surely turn your heart to their gods.'" Now, here's the next word: "Nevertheless." He says, "Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to these women in love. In fact, he married 700 women from foreign countries and had 300 concubines." Then it says this, "And his wives led him astray." "As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods. And his heart was" -- here's the phrase -- "no longer wholly devoted to his God." "So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and no longer followed the Lord fully." Look at what the Bible says in verse 9. "So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart was no longer wholly devoted to Him." 1 Kings 11:9 Here is the smartest person in the world, and he does something so stupid. Here is the shocking implication. If the smartest guy in the world has a weakness that wrecked his life, then you and I better identify our weakness and watch it like a hawk and have our friends watch that weakness like a hawk because we are nowhere near Solomon's level of brilliance. And if he messed up, what makes us think we're not going to mess up and wind up in a ditch as he did?" Solomon thought he could handle his weakness on his own, and in the end, his weakness messed his life up. What is your weakness? Is it lust, pride, anger, a lack of discipline, is it your mouth? What is that weak area of your life where you have the greatest potential to blow it and make a fool out of yourself and God? Is it dating, is it drugs, is it sex, is it alcohol, is it gossiping? You need to know your weakness, and then you need to share your weakness. You need someone in your life that will watch out for you and warn you when you are getting close to messing up. You also need to know the greatest weakness of your friend so you can have their back as well. Two people in my life know everything about me. Do you have anyone in your life like that? If the smartest person blew it, what makes you think you won’t?
A true friend tells you when you are blowing it and cares enough to come alongside you and help you when you are struggling.
1. Look up Proverbs 27:5-6. What do you think this verse means? (Hint: A true friend cares enough about you to get in your face if necessary and will stop you from hurting yourself or someone else. An enemy sees that you are messing up and doesn’t help you at all. They just ignore that you are shipwrecking your life as they watch you drown in a sea of your sin.) We need to look out for each other, and when we see a friend who is struggling, we have to have a hard conversation with them. We need to pray for them, and we need to speak the truth to them in love.
2. What is your greatest weakness?
3. What are your top three friends’ greatest weaknesses?
4. Do you have each other’s back? Have you given each other permission to get in each other’s business if necessary and have a hard conversation so you don’t mess up your life?
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