Blog day 6 – ‘I can do anything’ Can you really?

‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ (Philippians 4:13)

Can you? … really?

Can you run a marathon, become Prime Minister or defy death because you’re a Christian? I can’t help wondering if some of us harbour a secret suspicion of this verse because it appears to make such a bold claim about what we can achieve. To say ‘I can do all things’ is plainly ridiculous and no thinking person would be so brash. But when we add the phrase, as Paul does, ‘… through Christ who strengthens me’ many of us feel we ought to believe it but secretly wonder if there’s still a catch. Just because I’m a Christian doesn’t of itself make me able to run a marathon (although several weeks of training might).

The secret lies in the context and to see it we should read the verses preceding this unusual statement

10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.

11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13 NIV)

Paul had learned the secret of being in plenty without pride and being in need without complaining because Christ strengthened him. He discovered the secret of being resilient when he had been ‘brought low’ and being in flights of joy when he was ‘abounding’ because, at both of these human extremes, he derived his strength from Christ. For a man writing from a Roman prison cell, I find that impressive faith.

I am concerned that the out-of-context message of Philippians 4:13 (‘I can achieve anything’) is one we teach young people all too easily. I often hear teens being taught that given the right amount of effort, commitment and passion they can achieve whatever goal takes their fancy. By filling young minds with this kind of rhetoric we are setting most of them up for frustration and feelings of failure in later life.

It is better to believe this verse along with its context as a way of approaching life. We may be granted success, we may experience failure, we may become wealthy, we may become poor. But in whatever circumstance we can ‘learn to be content’ and face it all ‘through Christ who strengthens us.’

That’s how I’d prefer to live.