Today’s Verse
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:13
The Strength That Isn’t Yours
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We quote this verse when facing challenges, when we need a boost of confidence, when we’re trying to psych ourselves up for something hard. But context matters. Paul wasn’t writing this from a motivational seminar or a victory lap. He was writing it from prison.
He wasn’t saying, “I can achieve any goal I set my mind to.” He was saying, “I can endure whatever circumstances God allows because Christ gives me strength.” In plenty or in want. In comfort or in suffering. Fed or hungry. Celebrated or imprisoned. Christ’s strength sustains him through all of it.
This isn’t a blank check to do whatever you want. It’s a promise that you can do whatever God calls you to do. And there’s a massive difference. God won’t empower you to chase every ambition or fulfill every desire. But He will strengthen you for every assignment He gives you, every trial He allows, every calling He places on your life.
The key phrase is “through Christ.” Apart from Him, you can do nothing that matters eternally. But with Him? With His strength flowing through you? You’re capable of far more than you think. Not because you’re strong, but because He is. Not because you’re sufficient, but because He makes you sufficient.
Today, whatever feels too big, too hard, too beyond your ability, remember this: you’re not meant to do it in your own strength. You’re meant to do it through Christ who strengthens you. And His strength is always enough for what He calls you to.
Today’s Prayer
Lord, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, not in my own power but through Your strength working in and through me.
This isn’t a promise that I can do anything I want but that I can do everything You call me to do, that Your strength is sufficient for whatever You ask of me.
Teach me that the key phrase is “through Christ,” that apart from You I can do nothing but with You empowering me, nothing is impossible.
I face things that feel beyond my ability, tasks too big, challenges too hard, situations too complex, but Your strength makes up the difference between what I can do and what needs doing.
Help me stop relying on my own strength and start drawing on Yours, to remember that I’m not meant to be self-sufficient but Christ-sufficient.
Remind me that Paul wrote this from prison, proving that Christ’s strength sustains us not just in success but in suffering, not just in victory but in hardship.
Give me confidence to attempt what You’re calling me to even when I feel inadequate, knowing that Your strength in me is greater than the challenge before me.
Let me live today with the assurance that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, capable not because of who I am but because of who empowers me.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.